In this report, we focus on:
- Parent/carer reported and adolescent self-reported mental health outcomes as measured by the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). This is a well-validated behavioural screening questionnaire. Subscales related to symptoms of:
- Behavioural difficulties
- Emotional difficulties
- Attentional difficulties
The parent/carer reports were examined for the following groups:
- Whole sample;
- Child age (primary school-aged [4-10 years] or secondary school-aged [11-17 years]);
- Child gender (female or male);
- Children and young people with and without special educational needs and/or neurodevelopmental differences (SEN/ND or no SEN/ND);
- Household income (more or less than £16,000 per year, i.e., below the poverty line).
- Adolescent self-reported mental health outcomes as measured by the Kessler 6 scale (K-6). The K-6 is a 6-item inventory and a global measure of distress drawing from depressive and anxiety-related symptomology. Adolescents are asked to self-report how often over the past week they felt: nervous, hopeless, restless, depressed, everything was an effort, and worthless.
- There has been a sharp decrease in behavioural, emotional and attentional difficulties among primary and secondary school-aged children as restrictions have eased since February 2021.
- Parents/carers reported the highest level of behavioural, emotional and attentional difficulties in June 2020 and February 2021, when restrictions were highest.
- Overall, younger children (aged 4-10) have had greater changes in levels of behavioural, emotional and attentional difficulties throughout the pandemic; levels of difficulties among secondary school-aged children (aged 11-16) have been more stable.
- Patterns of parent/carer reported behavioural, emotional, and attentional difficulties over time have been relatively similar for boys and girls.
- Overall children have experienced reductions in mental health symptoms as restrictions eased in March 2021, however children with SEN/ND and those from low-income households have continued to show elevated mental health symptoms.
- The pattern of adolescent self-reported mental health is consistent with parent/carer reports.