Trajectories of mental health in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the longitudinal COPSY study.

Background: Mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and adolescents deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this population-based longitudinal study was to explore whether distinct mental health trajectories in youths can be identified over the course of the pandemic.

Methods: Mental health problems (MHP), psychosomatic symptoms and HRQoL were assessed at five time points between May 2020 and October 2022 in 744 children and adolescents aged 7 to 20 years using established instruments.

Using clinical expertise and empirical data in constructing networks of trauma symptoms in refugee youth.

: In recent years, many adolescents have fled their home countries due to war and human rights violations, consequently experiencing various traumatic events and putting them at risk of developing mental health problems. The symptomatology of refugee youth was shown to be multifaceted and often falling outside of traditional diagnoses. : The present study aimed to investigate the symptomatology of this patient group by assessing the network structure of a wide range of symptoms.