The authors use data from 2 calls in Young Lives 2020 phone survey, to investigate how young people’s mental health evolved in India, Peru, Vietnam, Ethiopia over the course of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

They found that:

• In mid-2020, rates of anxiety and depression were concerning, though young people’s mental health had improved significantly in India, Peru and Vietnam by late 2020 (with Ethiopia being the exception to this).
• Females reported higher rates of symptoms consistent with anxiety and depression everywhere except Ethiopia by the end of the year, although the gender gap was closing.
• Individuals living in food insecure households experienced higher rates of anxiety and depression than other groups, with lower or no significant recovery rates over the period.

The authors argue that further research into factors contributing to mental health resilience and non-COVID-19 stressors in Ethiopia is needed, as well as timely interventions to support vulnerable youth in low-and-middle-income-countries.

This article is available here in the journal Public Health in Practice.