The Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on infants, children, and adolescents. While the clinical course of SARS-Cov2 is generally mild in young subjects, significant challenges in this age group have been identified regarding mental health. These challenges were associated with social distancing and public health measures employed to limit infection rates. Different countries chose to adopt different public health strategies concerning the extent of social isolation of children, for example, whether and how long schools were closed. Pandemic isolation as a natural experiment allows for assessing the consequences for the psychosocial development and mental health of the next generation. It has become clear that timely research is necessary to guide healthcare and welfare politics to provide adequate surveillance strategies for children and adolescents in order to make a maximum of safe social contact in this context possible. Moreover, the consequences of disease management measures such as social distancing, homeschooling, or mask-wearing for the well-being and mental health of the next generation also need to be quantified. The psychosocial burden on children and adolescents must be addressed and effective measures to return to healthy lives and learn our lesson for future pandemic situations need to be based on solid evidence. Apart from a dimensional assessment of sub-categorical impairments, clinical consequences with respect to categorical mood, anxiety, or eating disorders warrant a thorough examination. Adequate scientific instruments for the monitoring and assessment of psychosocial consequences for children and adolescents need to be provided, addressing both the view of parents and children and adolescents themselves. Finally, apart from safe real-life social contacts, digital technologies, and telemedicine interventions, ranging from videoconference-based psychotherapy to mobile phone apps, need to be further investigated in children and adolescents to provide adequate health care in a pandemic situation.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has dramatically spread throughout the world, which has also caused mental health problems among the public, especially vulnerable groups like children and adolescents. As a traumatic event, the outbreak of COVID-19 might increase the prevalence of a series of mental health problems in children and adolescents probably due to social distancing, school closures, as well as separation from parents, and home quarantine. The continuing spreading of COVID-19 infection, as well as vaccine uptake strategies, quarantine policies, and health services during post epidemic era may also have a long-lasting side effect on children and adolescents. Children and adolescents are in critical periods of neurodevelopment and once they develop mental health problems, the long-lasting negative influence might span across their lifetime. Moreover, long-term multisystem sequelae, including neurological and psychiatric systems, of COVID-19 infection in children also compromise the development of physical and mental wellbeing in adulthood. Though there have been several studies on mental health consequences and long-term impact on the mental health of children and adolescents caused by COVID-19, there is still limited data and more comprehensive studies are needed on this important topic.

Covid-19 changed the lives of millions of people around the world. The effects of the global pandemic on the physical and psychological health of individuals, as well as on their behavioral habits, relationships, and the way they communicate, do not seem to be only short- or medium-term, but, on the contrary, appear to be long-lasting. In the same way that it is possible to use the term “long-covid” to refer to the long-term effects on the physical health of individuals who have contracted the virus, so we think it is possible to use the expression 'psychological long-covid' to indicate the long-term effects on the psychological health of individuals, not only of those who have been infected, but more generally of all those who have had to cope with social restrictions, lockdowns, distancing, remote work and learning, etc. imposed by the pandemic. At the same time, many people demonstrated resilience, as the capacity to cope with adverse events through positive adaptation.

The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted individuals, families, communities, states, and countries in ways that were never expected. A closer study of how the pandemic affected different areas of individuals’ development and mental and physical health, while also offering best practices and therapies for contending with extreme changes in life, is necessary to successfully move forward. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child, Adolescent, and Adult Development delves into how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted schooling, relationships, and mental, physical, and developmental health as well as how it adversely impacted those with disabilities. This publication is beneficial to those in academic settings within a variety of disciplines including psychology, sociology, epidemiology, public health, among others, as well as for laypeople and educational institutions who are trying to work through the impact of the pandemic and to better comprehend the changes, aftermath, and best practices for progressing. Covering a range of topics such as creative art therapy and child abuse, this essential reference is ideal for researchers, academicians, practitioners, administrators, instructors, counselors, and students.

Mental health is a cornerstone of young peoples’ well-being and increasingly a topic of concern. The foundation of mental health is largely laid in adolescence, and more than half of adult mental health disorders have their onset before the age of 14 . Mental health problems are becoming a leading cause of disease burden amongst adolescents globally, affecting their achievement of developmental tasks, socially, personally and academically. Poor adolescent mental health has been linked with poor long-term adult health morbidity and mortality. Optimal mental health requires a positive sense of wellbeing in addition to the absence of clinically significant, active mental illness. Monitoring adolescent mental health is key for understanding whether efforts to improve young people’s mental health at a national and international level are successful. The last decades have seen great changes in young peoples’ lives, including technological advancement and the COVID pandemic. In examining the pathways to adolescent mental health, the proposed research topic will contribute to a better understanding on how this ongoing crisis has affected adolescents.