Longitudinal associations between lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and distress among children and adolescents in Montréal.

Background: COVID-19 mitigation measures disrupted many youths' lives. The burden that pandemic changes induced on children and adolescent's mental health requires further research.

Objective: This study explores the associations between lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and distress and/or social impairment (herein abbreviated as "distress") among children and adolescents in Montréal, Canada.

Methods: Data were collected as part of a longitudinal survey and serology study of two to 20-year-olds at five different time points between October 2020 and June 2023. The outcome, distress, was the dichotomised score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire impact supplement. Lifestyle changes included changes in sleep, eating, and physical activity, among others. Adjusted risk ratios (RR) measuring associations between lifestyle changes and distress were estimated using regression models.

Results: The 2 183 participants contributed 5 359 observations across the five waves of data collection. The crude prevalence of distress was 14.4% (95% CI 13.2, 15.7). In the adjusted analyses, distress was associated with spending both less and more time sleeping (e.g., less: RR = 2.28; 95% CI: 1.98, 2.98), less time engaged in physical activity (RR = 2.14; 95% CI: 1.78, 2.57), and with social media use of greater than three hours per day versus none (RR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.69, 2.92).

Conclusion: This study found that certain lifestyle changes occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with distress and social impairment among children and adolescents.