The Covid-era has disrupted the lives of everyone, but perhaps the demographic that suffered the most is that of adolescents, who were particularly hurt by closures in general and school closures in particular. We compare the utilization of mental health services – namely, the amount of psychiatric medication dispensed and the number of psychiatric diagnoses – during this era, in comparison to previous years, and across demographics. In an effort to understand what contributes to the apparent rise in mental health problems, we also compare adolescents who were tested positive for covid to those who tested negative; and those who were vaccinated to those who were not.
To quantify the mental health toll on adolescents of the covid-era, across demographics, and as it relates to positive test results and to vaccination.
Allow policy makers to reach better decisions by incorporating the lessons from this study into their decision making
Maccabi Institute for Research and Innovation
