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Global Mental Health Reforms
Published Online: 27 January 2021

Addressing the Consequences of the COVID-19 Lockdown for Children’s Mental Health: Investing in School Mental Health Programs

Hesham M. Hamoda, M.D., M.P.H. [email protected], Anna Chiumento, M.Sc., Ph.D., Olakunle Alonge, M.D., Ph.D., Syed Usman Hamdani, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Khalid Saeed, M.B.B.S., F.C.P.S., Larry Wissow, M.D., M.P.H., and Atif Rahman, F.R.C.Psych., Ph.D.Authors Info & Affiliations
Publication: Psychiatric Services
Volume 72, Number 6
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000597
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Abstract

Children are likely to struggle with mental health consequences relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. School closures and home confinement increase the risk for emotional distress, domestic violence and abuse, and social isolation, as well as for disruption of sleep-wake and meal cycles, physical exercise routines, and health care access. As schools reopen, school mental health programs (SMHPs) incorporating universal approaches will be important for all children, and targeted approaches will be necessary for those more severely affected. Using their experience in Pakistan, the authors provide a roadmap for extending the World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterranean region’s SMHP to address the mental health consequences of COVID-19 among children globally.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric Services
Volume 72 • Number 6 • June 2021
Pages: 729 - 731
PubMed: 33502220

History

Received: 6 August 2020
Accepted: 18 August 2020
Published online: 27 January 2021
Published in print: June 2021

Keywords

  1. Adolescents
  2. Adolescence
  3. General child psychiatry
  4. COVID-19
  5. Mental health

Authors

Details

Hesham M. Hamoda, M.D., M.P.H. [email protected]
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Hamoda); Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Chiumento, Hamdani, Rahman); Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (Alonge); Human Development Research Foundation, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani, Rahman); Institute of Psychiatry, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani); World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo (Saeed); Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Wissow). Kathleen M. Pike, Ph.D., is editor of this column.
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Anna Chiumento, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Hamoda); Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Chiumento, Hamdani, Rahman); Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (Alonge); Human Development Research Foundation, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani, Rahman); Institute of Psychiatry, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani); World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo (Saeed); Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Wissow). Kathleen M. Pike, Ph.D., is editor of this column.
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Olakunle Alonge, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Hamoda); Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Chiumento, Hamdani, Rahman); Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (Alonge); Human Development Research Foundation, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani, Rahman); Institute of Psychiatry, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani); World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo (Saeed); Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Wissow). Kathleen M. Pike, Ph.D., is editor of this column.
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Syed Usman Hamdani, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Hamoda); Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Chiumento, Hamdani, Rahman); Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (Alonge); Human Development Research Foundation, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani, Rahman); Institute of Psychiatry, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani); World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo (Saeed); Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Wissow). Kathleen M. Pike, Ph.D., is editor of this column.
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Khalid Saeed, M.B.B.S., F.C.P.S.
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Hamoda); Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Chiumento, Hamdani, Rahman); Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (Alonge); Human Development Research Foundation, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani, Rahman); Institute of Psychiatry, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani); World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo (Saeed); Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Wissow). Kathleen M. Pike, Ph.D., is editor of this column.
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Larry Wissow, M.D., M.P.H.
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Hamoda); Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Chiumento, Hamdani, Rahman); Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (Alonge); Human Development Research Foundation, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani, Rahman); Institute of Psychiatry, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani); World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo (Saeed); Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Wissow). Kathleen M. Pike, Ph.D., is editor of this column.
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Atif Rahman, F.R.C.Psych., Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (Hamoda); Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Chiumento, Hamdani, Rahman); Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (Alonge); Human Development Research Foundation, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani, Rahman); Institute of Psychiatry, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan (Hamdani); World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo (Saeed); Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Wissow). Kathleen M. Pike, Ph.D., is editor of this column.
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Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Hamoda ([email protected]).

Competing Interests

The authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Funding Information

The Scale-Up Hub of the School Mental Health Implementation Network of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (SHINE) is sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and funded by a cooperative agreement (U19-MH-109998) with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

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