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The impact of COVID-19 on young people’s mental health in latvia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

N. Konstantinovs  and
J. Lapa
N. Konstantinovs*
Affiliation:
Clinical, Psychotherapy Centre for Adolescents and Young People, Riga, Latvia
J. Lapa
Affiliation:
Clinical, Psychotherapy Centre for Adolescents and Young People, Riga, Latvia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

There is an ongoing debate about the impact on mental health associated with Covid-19 pandemics. Some studies have shown an increase in depressive and anxious symptomatology in general population. It has been noted that young people might be among the highest risk populations due to various enviorenmental and developmental influences.

Objectives

To estimate the impact of Covid-19 related restrictions on mental health measures among Latvian adolescents and young adults (14-24).

Methods

We conduct a survey on social media, recruiting 500 participants among the 14-24 age gropup. The survey consists of three parts: 1) sociodemographics; 2) quantitative mental health self-evaluation form; 3) open ended questionaire about the needs and expectations. For statistical analysis we use Excel software and use a regression analysis.

Results

483 participants participated in our survey. The average age was 17.2, 62% was female, 36% male, 2% identified as trans. 52.3% reported decline in their mental functioning and wellbeing in one or several mental health domains (depression, anxiety, addictive behaviours) out of which 13.4% reported significant impairment in a major life area. The support and needs defined by respondents can be divided in three clusters: socialising outside immediate family, psychosocial services, recreational needs.

Conclusions

Confirming to findings in other EU countries, majority of adolescents and young people in Latvia have experienced clinically significant mental health decline during the Covid-19 pandemic. These results can help policy makers in establishing appropriate, needs oriented support in tackling this problem.

Keywords

COVID-19adolescentyoung adultmental health
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S296
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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