707 - Assessing the mental health trajectory of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal MyHEARTSMAP study

Sunday, April 30, 2023

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Poster Number: 707
Publication Number: 707.328

Melissa L. Woodward, University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Sophia Shalchy-Tabrizi, BC Children's Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Jeffrey N. Bone, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Morgan W. Wolsey, University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, Edmonton, AB, Canada; Munsa G. Kang, University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Quynh Doan, University of British Columbia, BCCH Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Presenting Author(s)

Melissa L. Woodward, PhD (she/her/hers)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the pre-existing youth mental health crisis. Evaluating the trajectory of these mental health concerns and factors that impact mental health support access is important for resource planning and policy.

Objective:

We aim to evaluate the change in frequency of psychosocial issues for children and adolescents in British Columbia (BC) during the COVID-19 pandemic over a three-month period and to evaluate factors that impact the ability to access recommended mental health services.

Design/Methods:

Youth aged 6 to 17 years and their guardians living in BC were enrolled between August 2020 and July 2021. Virtual recruitment was conducted recruiting a geographically diverse sample representative of the BC population. The MyHEARTSMAP self-assessment tool is a digital psychosocial health evaluation for youth completed by the youth and/or their guardian. Responses are grouped into four domains: psychiatric, social, function, and youth health and domain-specific recommendations are triggered. At three-months, participants repeated the MyHEARTSMAP tool, and a questionnaire regarding their pandemic experience and support service access. Demographic variables and change in MyHEARTSMAP scores were described and multivariate logistic regression analysis evaluated factors that may impact trajectory and access to resources.

Results:

241 families participated at baseline and follow-up with a youth mean age of 10.7 years (SD 3.26). While the majority of youth demonstrated no change, some youth experienced a worsening of their mental health concerns across the domains (psychiatry - 12.9%, social - 10.8%, function - 7.5%, youth health - 9.5%). Perhaps counterintuitively, a greater proportion of individuals experienced improvement of their mental health concerns over this period (psychiatry - 24.9%, social - 15.8%, function - 18.3%, youth health - 12.9%). Psychosocial scores at baseline were highly predictive of scores at three-month follow-up, while age, gender, ethnicity, income, school and employment status, and COVID-19-related experiences were not significantly predictive. The most frequent reported barriers to accessing services were related to time and cost. In the multivariate analysis, individuals who connected with their family doctor regarding the mental health concerns were more likely to attempt to access recommended services (OR = 8.2, 95% CI 3.0, 24.4).

Conclusion(s):

Youth mental health concerns remained highly stable over a three-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family doctor involvement is a key component of promoting community mental health resources.