COVID-19 and mental health in children and adolescents: a diagnostic panel to map psycho-social consequences in the pandemic context

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, much research has been done on the psycho-social consequences, especially for children, adolescents and families. In the long run, there is a large set of quantitative data available. However, these still seem to be not well understood. Theoretical classifications of the evidence also diagnostic tools still seem to be open. This paper elaborates a possible systematisation based on theoretical models of systemic self-organisation theories. This leads to a model for a comprehensive psycho-social child-in-environment diagnostic to map potential problem areas. Such a theoretical framing should enable both: a deeper understanding of the impact of pandemics on young people and hypotheses for intervention strategies in the context of pandemic management as well as in the context of diagnostic-systemic interventions in psycho-social working settings. In the coming months and years, it will be essential to be able to understand and describe psychosocial disabilities that have developed in the context of the pandemic in a differentiated way in order to establish targeted interventions.