Minireviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Oct 28, 2021; 9(5): 455-461
Published online Oct 28, 2021. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v9.i5.455
Review of the effects of SARS-CoV2 infection and COVID-19 on common pediatric psychiatric illnesses
Kripa Balaram, Masroor Ahmed, Raman Marwaha
Kripa Balaram, Masroor Ahmed, Raman Marwaha, Department of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University (MetroHealth), Cleveland, OH 44109, United States
Author contributions: Balaram K, Ahmed M, and Marwaha R contributed equally to this work; Balaram K and Ahmed M designed the search criteria and protocol and wrote the manuscript; Marwaha R supervised the search and writing processes and provided final edits; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this paper declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kripa Balaram, MD, Doctor, Department of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University (MetroHealth), 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109, United States. kripa.balaram@gmail.com
Received: March 30, 2021
Peer-review started: March 30, 2021
First decision: July 30, 2021
Revised: August 14, 2021
Accepted: October 20, 2021
Article in press: October 20, 2021
Published online: October 28, 2021
Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 is a novel coronavirus strain that causes pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome along with other morbidities, collectively known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease. There has been widespread discussion about the psychological impact of COVID-19 particularly on children and adolescents. There have been overarching negative effects with regards to decreased physical activity, more screen time, increasingly unhealthy diets, and irregularities in sleep/wake schedules. This, coupled with disruptions in ongoing mental health treatment and associated support structures, has caused unprecedented declines in the emotional and psychosocial wellbeing of children and adolescents. This review aims to systematically review the literature to provide a general overview of the ways in which COVID-19 has affected common psychiatric illnesses in children and adolescents. The included articles in all subsections concluded that symptoms of these common childhood psychiatric disorders have generally been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This review indicates that quarantine and the consequent isolation have had multiple significant and consistent negative implications on the mental health of children and adolescents. Our study indicates that there should be increased vigilance among providers and families to mitigate the negative psychological effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has on children with common childhood psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: COVID-19, Depression, Anxiety, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette's, Children, Adolescents

Core Tip: The included articles in all subsections concluded that symptoms of these common childhood psychiatric disorders have generally been exacerbated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our study indicates that there should be increased vigilance among pediatricians and families to mitigate the negative psychological effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has on children with common childhood psychiatric disorders. This calls out for pediatricians, psychiatrists, and all providers alike to remain cognizant of these effects and work collaboratively towards measures to reduce the psychological impact of COVID-19.