Effects of Isolation on Mental Health Status of Adolescents during The COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: To investigate the long-term effects of COVID-19 isolation on adolescent mental health. Methods: In this study, 12490 adolescents in Jingzhou city were investigated by general demographic survey, the 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12), the 9-item of Patient health questionnaire depression module (PHQ-9), the 7-item of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7), and post-traumatic The posttraumatic stress disorder checklist-5(PCL-5) during the normal epidemic prevention and control period. Results: The study found that 44.5% of adolescents in the isolated group had at least one of these mental health disorders, which is higher than that in the non-isloated group, while it is only 36.9%in the non-isolated group. The proportion of psychological damage in the isolated group was higher than that in the non-isolated group, such as 23.5% in the GHQ-12 isolated group and 18.6% in the non-isolated group (P < 0.001). Among the mental health effects of isolation on adolescents, concentrated isolation had significant effects on adolescent depression (P < 0.001). After controlling for confounding factors such as general population conditions, Isolation was found to be an independent risk factor for long-term GHQ-12 (OR= 1.255,CI=1.043-1.311), PHQ-9(OR=1.218,CI=1.036-1.432) and GAD-7(OR=1.350,CI=1.195-1.712) trauma in adolescents (P < 0 .05). Discussion: Studies have found that adolescents undergoing quarantine can cause long-term psychological trauma to general mental health, anxiety and depression, while adolescents without isolation have relatively little impact on their mental health. Therefore, In addition to mental health counseling and social support given to adolescents, more attention should be paid to the impact of isolation on adolescents’ mental health during the pandemic.