The COVID-19 pandemic seemingly exacerbated a rising psychological well being disaster amongst US teenagers and younger adults, as evidenced by the sharp improve in antidepressant prescriptions written after March of 2020.
These prescriptions are the main focus of a examine printed at present in Pediatrics, which reveals that, after the pandemic started, prescriptions elevated 130% amongst feminine adolescents ages 12 to 17 years and virtually 60% amongst feminine younger adults ages 18 to 25 years in comparison with charges seen in 2016 to 2019.
“A number of research recommend that charges of tension and despair amongst feminine adolescents elevated in the course of the pandemic,” mentioned first examine creator Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, a pediatrician and researcher at College of Michigan Well being in a press launch from the College of Michigan. “These research, coupled with our findings, recommend the pandemic exacerbated a pre-existing psychological well being disaster on this group.”
Much less prescribing present in boys, males
The examine was based mostly on antidepressant prescriptions distributed to US people aged 12 to 25 years from 2016 to 2022 and included within the IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Database, an all-payer nationwide database protecting 92% of the prescriptions distributed in US pharmacies.
From January 2016 to March 2020, the month-to-month prescription charge elevated by 17.0% monthly (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.2% to 18.8%), suggesting antidepressant use (mostly selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs) was on the rise prepandemic. Starting in March 2020, the authors discovered a rise of 10.8% monthly for prescriptions.
“The month-to-month antidepressant dishing out charge elevated 63.5% quicker from March 2020 onwards in contrast with beforehand,” the authors mentioned.
The month-to-month antidepressant dishing out charge elevated 63.5% quicker from March 2020 onwards in contrast with beforehand.
However the development was seen solely in females, not males. Month-to-month prescription charges rose 129.6% and 56.5% quicker from March 2020 onwards in contrast with beforehand amongst females aged 12 to 17 years and 18 to 25 years, respectively, the authors mentioned, however prescribing charges for males the identical age dropped after the pandemic started.
Earlier than March of 2020, prescriptions for male teenagers have been rising steadily at 8.7% monthly, however the pandemic was related to a lower in prescriptions.
“In December 2022, the antidepressant dishing out charge amongst male younger adults was 0.1 (0.0%) greater than predicted by the counterfactual development, in contrast with 403.8 (6.2%) greater amongst feminine younger adults,” the authors mentioned.
Cultural norms may very well be at play
In a commentary in Pediatrics, consultants from the College of Nebraska Medical Middle and Creighton College College of Drugs write that the examine additional illuminates the psychological well being disaster skilled by US teenagers. They mentioned the distinction seen between girls and boys within the examine is probably going attributable to cultural norms.
“Cultural norms usually socialize women towards expressing internalizing behaviors corresponding to anxiousness and despair, whereas boys could exhibit extra externalizing behaviors corresponding to delinquent actions and substance abuse,” they wrote.
“This sample might have an effect on how psychological well being problems current and are acknowledged in males, suggesting the necessity for extra analysis and coaching to establish expressions of emotional misery.”