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Planning for the Mental Health Surge: The Self-Reported Mental Health Impact of Covid-19 on Young People and Their Needs and Preferences for Future Services

Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
8 April 2022

Abstract

We investigated young people’s mental health (MH) and preferences for future MH services early in the Covid-19 pandemic to support user-centered service planning and delivery. We administered a webbased survey to young people living in Ontario. Logistic regressions identified predictors of worsening MH and service preferences among a sample of 1341 participants. 61.1% reported worse MH since the pandemic. Worsening MH was significantly associated with one MH and five sociodemographic factors. Participants’ MH and service preferences aligned well with clinical practice guidelines in that those with a greater self-reported MH need preferred more intensive MH services.

Résumé

Nous avons étudié la santé mentale des jeunes de même que leurs préférences pour les futurs services de santé mentale aux premiers stades de la pandémie de Covid19 afin de soutenir la planification et la prestation de services axés sur l’utilisateur. Nous avons mené un sondage sur le Web auprès de jeunes vivant en Ontario. Des régressions logistiques ont été utilisées pour déterminer les prédicteurs d’une détérioration de la santé mentale et des préférences en matière de services auprès d’un échantillon de 1 341 participants. Parmi eux, 61,1 % des répondants ont signalé que leur santé mentale était moins bonne depuis le début de la pandémie. La détérioration de la santé mentale était associée à un problème de santé mentale et à 5 facteurs sociodémographiques. Les préférences des participants en matière de santé mentale et de services concordaient bien avec les lignes directrices relatives aux pratiques cliniques auprès de ceux présentant des problèmes de santé mentale autodéclarés plus importants, et qui ont besoin de services de santé mentale plus intensifs.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

cover image Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 41Number 1January 2022
Pages: 46 - 61

History

Version of record online: 8 April 2022

Key Words

  1. youth
  2. young adult
  3. Covid-19
  4. mental health
  5. mental health services

Mots-clés

  1. jeunesse
  2. jeune adulte
  3. virus de la Covid-19
  4. santé mentale
  5. services de santé mentale

Authors

Affiliations

Ashley Radomski
Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions
Paula Cloutier
CHEO Research Institute
William Gardner
CHEO Research Institute; University of Ottawa
Kathleen Pajer
CHEO Research Institute; University of Ottawa
Nicole Sheridan
CHEO Research Institute
Purnima Sundar
Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions
Mario Cappelli [email protected]
Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions; CHEO Research Institute

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