The onset of COVID-19 public health restrictions led to a surge in teens hospitalized for psychiatric issues, with girls experiencing the worst spikes in emotional breakdowns, a new study finds.
An international consortium of 27 researchers published the study Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, analyzing data from eight American and French children’s hospitals between Feb. 1, 2019, and April 30, 2021.
They found the number of children ages 11 to 17 hospitalized for severe anxiety, depression and suicide risk rose 14% from 9,696 in the 14 months through March 2020 to 11,101 in the following 13 months.