Has the COVID-19 outbreak put more children and adolescents at risk for suicidality? A longitudinal insight of the phenomenon in psychiatrically hospitalized patients

As with previous pandemics, recent research hints that suicidality may have increased after the COVID-19 outbreak among younger people. This study aimed to better understand the trend of suicidality phenomenon in relation to pandemic and to determine whether the mental profile of children and adolescents with suicidality has changed following the COVID-19 outbreak. We retrospectively compared pediatric inpatients admitted to hospital for suicidality before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 during 2017-2022 period Suicidality demonstrated an upward trend, increasing from 44% in 2017 to 67% in 2022, with an interim decline in 2019; nevertheless, the overall trajectory showed significant growth. We reported a significant increase of depressive disorders (p < 0.001) and of eating disorders (p = 0.02) after the COVID-19 outbreak. By multivariable logistic regression, we analyzed factors independently associated with suicidality upon the hospital admission after the COVID-19 outbreak. The odds of a history of self-harm increased after the COVID-19 outbreak (p < 0.001), conversely, the likelihood of family history of suicidal behaviors, neuropsychiatric disorders, and personal history of ACEs decreased by 84% (OR 0.16, p < 0.001), 57% (OR 0.43, p < 0.001), and 73% (OR 0.27, p < 0.001), respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic period was associated with nullification of pre-pandemic prevention efforts to curb the uptrend of suicidality among children and adolescents and was associated with changes in the pattern of risk factors and the mental profile of patients hospitalized for suicidality.