Depressive condition and rise of intentional poisoning among young girls during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Swedish national register-based cohort study using different time windows
1
Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
2
Department of Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada
3
National Swedish Center for Suicide Research and Prevention, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intentional poisoning in youth all show rising levels, above all driven by girls. However, they typically use narrow time windows, pay little attention to age differences and lack insight on high-risk groups like those suffering from depression. Focused on young girls suffering from depression, and using a short and a long time window, this study investigates the impact of the pandemic on self-poisoning among girls 10-14 and 15-19 years.
METHODS:
This national longitudinal study used data from a register-based rolling cohort of girls 10-19 years in Sweden between 2006 and 2021 (n~1.52 million). Age-stratified trends in self-poisoning were compiled for those suffering from depression (approximately 8630 per year). The short-term investigation examined consecutive changes in period incidences, between the pandemic 22-month period (March 2020-December 2021) and two prior equivalent calendar periods in 2018-2019 and 2016-2017. Long-term, changes in trends in annual incidences (2006-2021) were assessed.
RESULTS:
Self-poisoning increased in both age groups when comparing the pandemic period to the previous same-length time window (2018-2019), but the rise was proportionally more than three times higher among younger vs. older girls (32.5% vs. 9.5%). The rise (in annual incidence terms) reversed long-term declining trends among older girls and exacerbated increases already under way among younger ones. Because differential age-related impact, the pandemic compounded the relative excess risk of younger girls in depression compared to their older peers.
CONCLUSIONS:
For young girls suffering from depression, the COVID-19 pandemic had age-specific negative effects on self-poisoning. It interrupted and reversed 15 years of significant downward trends in annual prevalences among those 15-19 and exacerbated recently reemerging ones among the 10-14 years. How rising trends in the prescription of psychotropic medication and in self-poisoning relate to one another is not straightforward and deserves close attention.
Studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intentional poisoning in youth all show rising levels, above all driven by girls. However, they typically use narrow time windows, pay little attention to age differences and lack insight on high-risk groups like those suffering from depression. Focused on young girls suffering from depression, and using a short and a long time window, this study investigates the impact of the pandemic on self-poisoning among girls 10-14 and 15-19 years.
METHODS:
This national longitudinal study used data from a register-based rolling cohort of girls 10-19 years in Sweden between 2006 and 2021 (n~1.52 million). Age-stratified trends in self-poisoning were compiled for those suffering from depression (approximately 8630 per year). The short-term investigation examined consecutive changes in period incidences, between the pandemic 22-month period (March 2020-December 2021) and two prior equivalent calendar periods in 2018-2019 and 2016-2017. Long-term, changes in trends in annual incidences (2006-2021) were assessed.
RESULTS:
Self-poisoning increased in both age groups when comparing the pandemic period to the previous same-length time window (2018-2019), but the rise was proportionally more than three times higher among younger vs. older girls (32.5% vs. 9.5%). The rise (in annual incidence terms) reversed long-term declining trends among older girls and exacerbated increases already under way among younger ones. Because differential age-related impact, the pandemic compounded the relative excess risk of younger girls in depression compared to their older peers.
CONCLUSIONS:
For young girls suffering from depression, the COVID-19 pandemic had age-specific negative effects on self-poisoning. It interrupted and reversed 15 years of significant downward trends in annual prevalences among those 15-19 and exacerbated recently reemerging ones among the 10-14 years. How rising trends in the prescription of psychotropic medication and in self-poisoning relate to one another is not straightforward and deserves close attention.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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