The Impact of COVID-19 on Cognitive Development and Executive Functioning in Adolescents: A First Exploratory Investigation

Neuropsychiatric Outcomes and Sleep Dysfunction in COVID-19 Patients: Risk Factors and Mechanisms

The ongoing global health crisis due to the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has significantly impacted all aspects of life. While the majority of early research following the coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has focused on the physiological effects of the virus, a substantial body of subsequent studies has shown that the psychological burden of the infection is also considerable. Patients, even without mental illness history, were at increased susceptibility to developing mental health and sleep disturbances during or after the COVID-19 infection. Viral neurotropism and inflammatory storm damaging the blood-brain barrier have been proposed as possible mechanisms for mental health manifestations, along with stressful psychological factors and indirect consequences such as thrombosis and hypoxia. The virus has been found to infect peripheral olfactory neurons and exploit axonal migration pathways, exhibiting metabolic changes in astrocytes that are detrimental to fueling neurons and building neurotransmitters. Patients with COVID-19 present dysregulated and overactive immune responses, resulting in impaired neuronal function and viability, adversely affecting sleep and emotion regulation. Additionally, several risk factors have been associated with the neuropsychiatric sequelae of the infection, such as female sex, age, preexisting neuropathologies, severity of initial disease and sociological status. This review aimed to provide an overview of mental health symptoms and sleep disturbances developed during COVID-19 and to analyze the underlying mechanisms and risk factors of psychological distress and sleep dysfunction.

Self-perception of cognitive sequels in post-COVID-19 individuals

COVID-19 is an infection, primarily respiratory, caused by the SARS-CoV-2, which can also affect the central nervous system, causing neuropsychological damage. There are studies describing post-COVID-19 cognitive deficits, but it is important to know this outcome in populations with different social, biological, and cultural characteristics.

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the self-perception of cognitive sequelae in post-COVID-19 individuals and identify whether there is a possible relationship between the outcome of the participants' self-perception and sociodemographic and clinical data.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study, carried out through an online questionnaire on the Google Forms platform, in which sociodemographic data, general health data, clinical manifestations of COVID-19, and post-COVID-19 self-perception of the cognitive domains of memory, attention, language, and executive functions were collected.

Results

The final sample consisted of 137 participants, and it was possible to identify that memory and attention were the domains with the highest impression of worsening post-COVID-19, followed by executive functions and language. In addition, it was identified that being female may be related to a worse self-perception of all cognitive functions and that having depression or other psychiatric diseases and obesity can significantly affect at least half of the cognitive domains evaluated.

Conclusions

This study pointed to a post-COVID-19 cognitive worsening of the participants.

Covid-19 school closures negatively impacted elementary-school students' reading comprehension and reading fluency skills

In Brazil, schools remained closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for approximately two years. In this study, we investigated how COVID-19 school closures were associated with gaps and losses in Brazilian students' reading skills. We contrasted the reading comprehension and fluency of 2nd- to 4th-graders in 2022 with a 2019 cohort. Furthermore, we investigated how 2022 5th graders' reading comprehension and fluency skills have improved since 2019. Overall, results showed that COVID-19 school closures were associated with gaps but not losses in reading comprehension and fluency. Therefore, these skills should be targets of educational interventions.

The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Admission on Families: Results from a Nationwide Sample in Greece

The aim of the present study was to assess the psychological impact of hospitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic on parents and their offspring. We performed a nationwide cross-sectional study in Greece based on an Internet questionnaire survey. A convenience sample of parents whose offspring had been hospitalized due to COVID-19 (including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, MIS-C), diagnosed with COVID-19 but not hospitalized, and hospitalized for another reason during the pandemic were enrolled. Parental stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Revised Impact of Event Scale (IES-R) tools, and childhood mental wellbeing with the Children’s Revised Impact of Event 13 (CRIES-13) scale. Out of 214 received responses, stress levels were significantly higher in parents whose children had been admitted for COVID-19 or MIS-C versus those not admitted or admitted for other reasons (p < 0.001, for PSS/IES-R). Parental and childhood stress levels were correlated. In the multivariable linear regression analysis, children’s hospitalization because of COVID-19 or MIS-C, younger parental age, the existence of comorbidities, and another family member’s hospitalization because of COVID-19 were independent factors for higher stress. In light of the above, stricter hospital admission criteria for COVID-19 could be implemented, and psychological support for eventually admitted families may be beneficial.

Cognitive Difficulties, Psychological Symptoms, and Long Lasting Somatic Complaints in Adolescents with Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Telehealth Cross-Sectional Pilot Study

Background. Few studies have evaluated cognitive functioning and mental health in children and adolescents who contracted the SARS-CoV-2 infection. We investigated the prevalence and association of neuropsychological difficulties, psychological symptoms, and self-reported long-COVID complaints in a sample of adolescents. Methods. Thirty-one adolescents infected by COVID-19 within 3–6 months prior to the assessment were included. Neuropsychological difficulties, psychological symptoms, and self-reported long-COVID complaints were evaluated using a checklist and a battery of multiple standardized measures, using a telehealth procedure. Symptoms during the infection were also detected. Results. We included 31 adolescents (23 girls, 8 boys; mean age 14.1, SD = 2). We found borderline scores in 32.3% and 45.2% of our sample for phonemic and category fluency, respectively. A high percentage of participants showed symptoms of depression (80.6%) and anxiety (61.3%). Fifty-eight percent reported at least one long-COVID symptom. The most common symptoms were headache and attention problems (58%). Subjects presenting numbness/weakness, fatigue, brain fog, or attention problems had higher scores in depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion. This is a pilot study limited by the lack of control group. However, we found that cognitive, psychological, and physical symptoms were very common among adolescents recovered from COVID-19.