Psychiatric symptoms and emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian adolescents during the third lockdown: a cross-sectional cohort study

This database includes the raw data linked with the paper “Psychiatric Symptoms and Emotional Repercussions of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Italian Adolescents: Third Lockdown Survey” .

In this paper, we proposed a questionnaire to investigate the presence of symptoms related to anxiety, panic, depression, eating disorders, sleep disorders, tendency to social withdrawal, stress disorders, psychotic symptoms, anti-conservative thoughts, and self-harming acts aggravated by COVID-19 restrictions. Our aim was to investigate: (1) The prevalence rate and sociodemographic correlates of COVID-19 related stress disorders, depressive, anxious, panic, and psychotic symptoms, according to DSM-5 criteria, during the third lockdown in Italy. (2)  Perception of personal stress level, dysfunctional eating behaviours, sleep problems, substances abuse, perceived social withdrawal, and suicidal ideation and self-harm during the third lockdown in Italy. (3) Differences between male adolescents and female adolescents.

We administered an online anonymous questionnaire, built ad hoc using validated scales, to a cohort of 500 Italian adolescents (12-18 y.o.).

Our study highlighted that the respondents felt more stress than during the first lockdown. Participants showed suprathreshold symptoms for post-traumatic stress disorder and isolated symptoms of acute or post-traumatic stress due to the pandemic. In addition, we found psychotic symptoms, panic, anxiety, depression, eating-related symptoms, sleep difficulties, tendency to social withdrawal after the pandemic, suicidal ideation, and self-harming behaviour. Furthermore, girls showed a more severe level of distress than boys did. The results show a high prevalence of symptoms developed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and which are undermining the psychological health of Italian adolescents.