Anxiety in Children and Adolescents in the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The aim of this study was; to define the anxiety and anxiety-related factors experienced by children/adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic on a global scale. Study data were collected between 15.04.2021 and 30.04.2021 by using keywords (child, children, adolescents, adolescents, mental health, anxiety, anxiety and stress) in Turkish and English. The data sources of this study are PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar t. As a result of the evaluations, a total of n=6185 articles were reached from all databases. After the evaluation of the full texts, the study was completed with n=31 articles. Eleven of the articles evaluated in this study were published in China. The anxiety prevalence of children and adolescents varies between 1.84-45.0%. As a result of the evaluated studies; It has been observed that women, those with chronic-psychiatric diseases, those who are older, separated from family members, migrant children and adolescents are more likely to experience anxiety. Some of the anxiety symptoms of children and adolescents are nervousness, irritability, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. In conclusion, anxiety levels and anxiety-related factors of children and adolescents living in various countries of the world during the Covid-19 pandemic were determined.