Anxiety and depression in young children exacerbated by pandemic, Quebec report shows

MONTREAL -

The mental and physical health of young children and families in Quebec has been negatively affected by the pandemic according to a recent report released by researchers at the Early Childhood Observatory (ECO).

Many of the mental health difficulties, in particular, arise from a variety of “sources of stress within families and it’s especially the case with children from disadvantaged families,” said the project’s director, Fannie Dagenais, in an interview with CTV News.

The group examined a wide range of studies from Quebec and around the world pre-pandemic and during, to add to their data and get a more complete picture of the situation.

Some of the findings of how children aged 1-5 fared between 2016-2020 include:

• more symptoms and diagnoses of anxiety and depression, social phobia, separation anxiety, behavioural disorders and sleep problems
• 40 per cent of children aged 3-5 did not meet the recommendations for enough physical activity
• 52 per cent of children exceeded the recommendations for screen time

The COVID-19 crisis also caused hardship when it came to the quality of a family’s diet, its financial situations and the incidence of domestic violence, the report said.

They plan to continue to study the mental health and behaviour of children and parents over the coming months and years to evaluate the full impact of the pandemic on families.

But Dagenais said the data gathered before the pandemic indicates that one year later, in 2021, the problems were likely to have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

And when children suffer, parents also suffer.

“When you have to take care of young children that aren’t sleeping well at night, there’s little chance that you’re sleeping well too,” said Dagenais, so attention must also be paid to the mental health of parents and guardians.

Another development of great concern is the level of violence against women while they were pregnant.

In 2018 before the pandemic, nearly 11 per cent of mothers of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years were victims of conjugal violence while they were pregnant according to the EOC report.

The crisis has not abated, the report goes on to say, noting a substantial increase in domestic violence during the COVID-19 emergency in several countries as well as Québec.

The report offers some recommendations:

• establish a pregnancy declaration system, enabling doctors and midwives to refer pregnant women to health services in their neighbourhoods
• provide young children with quality childcare services with trained educators who have good work conditions since poor quality childcare is a risk factor for children’s mental health
• offer financial support for affordable housing to disadvantaged families
• limit screen time completely for children under 2, to one hour for those 3-5 and to a maximum of two hours for five-year-old children
• tax sugary drinks or create safe spaces for physical activity to boost physical health
• encourage parents to visit the dentist with their child, by launching awareness campaigns

Dagenais said they plan to continue to study the mental health and behaviour of children and parents over the coming months and years to evaluate the full impact of the pandemic on families.