The department of Health of the Government of Navarra has granted a financial aid to the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra to investigate the effect on health and functioning of the pandemic in Spanish children and young people. This funding is part of the 'Call for projects of research in Health Sciences related to the pandemic produced by the SASRS-Cov-2 virus'. Four other projects of the University have obtained funds from this call.

The manager to carry out the study is Gonzalo Arrondo Ostiz, member of the group 'Mind-Brain' of the ICS and professor of the School of Education and Psychology. He will develop it as a member of project COH-FIT (Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times), the largest in the world on the physical and mental impact of the pandemic. It involves 200 international researchers who aim to collect information from more than 100,000 people on six continents. Anyone can collaborate through its website: www.coh-fit.com.

 "Both the pandemic and the restrictive measures that have been applied can have marked detrimental effects on the quality of life of minors in relation to physical and mental health, as well as on their relationships with family and friends," says the expert. He warns that children and adolescents are especially vulnerable in crisis situations such as this one.

As he explains, this status can have a major impact, especially for those with mental health problems, who account for between 10% and 20% of children worldwide. "Among them, symptoms of anxiety and depression are the most frequent," he adds.

600 children and 600 adolescents

To develop this research aims to have a representative Spanishsample of 600 children and 600 adolescents and an additional sample of approximately 1,800 more. "COH-FIT has already reached 90,000 participants worldwide, but most of them have been adults. With this project we seek to overcome this deficit of knowledge on the youngest," he details.

From agreement with the researcher of the ICS, the results of this research will be invaluable for post-pandemic action, as it will provide a large issue of complex data collected over time. "Due to the effects of the Covid-19 crisis and subsequent restrictions, professionals working in the health, social and educational sectors are challenged to rethink the way they provide care to children and young people. They will need reliable and rigorous data to guide their actions."

The survey COH-FIT will be in place throughout the pandemic and for up to one year after the pandemic ends, with the goal to monitor progress. Information is requested anonymously from adults and, with parental consent and financial aid , from adolescents and children six years of age and older. 

COH-FIT aims to identify which individuals are at greater and lesser risk of experiencing physical and mental health problems during the pandemic and at different levels of physical distancing measures, and to identify risk and protective factors that will enable the design of prevention and intervention programs for both the current and future pandemics.

The results will be presented to the national and international academic community , with the goal to help develop specific interventions for people at especially high risk.

COH-FIT is supported by organizations such as the association World Psychiatry, the network for Mental Illness Prevention and Mental Health Promotion (ECNP Network) and the association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health(ACAMH), among others.