COVID-19 and risk of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and poisoning in children and adolescents

• Published in: Annals of medicine (Helsinki) Vol. 57; no. 1; p. 2516698
• Main Authors: Kim, Jaewhan, Hoskinson, Colby, Nichols, Evelyn, Illapperuma-Wood, Chathuri, Fischer, Aaron, Ben-Umeh, Kenechukwu, Wilson, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01.12.2025; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Child; Children; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Poisoning; Poisoning - epidemiology; Psychiatry; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2; Self-harm; Self-Injurious Behavior - epidemiology; Suicidal Ideation; Utah - epidemiology; Utah; COVID-19; Poisoning; Children; Adolescents; Suicidal ideation; Self-harm
• ISSN: 0785-3890; 1365-2060; 1365-2060
• DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2025.2516698

This study examined the association between COVID-19 and the risk of self-harm, suicidal ideation and poisoning in school-aged children and adolescents. We utilized the 2019-2021 Utah All Payers Claims Database (APCD) to identify school-age children and adolescents aged 6-15 years in 2019. COVID-19 diagnosis, self-harm, suicidal ideation and poisoning were identified using ICD-10 diagnosis codes. Baseline characteristics were assessed, and Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) was applied to balance these characteristics between the two groups (those with COVID-19 and those without). Weighted logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with these outcomes in 2021. The study included 180,925 participants (48% female; mean [SD] age in 2019: 10.6 [2.9] years), of whom 45,056 (24.9%) had a COVID-19 in 2020, and 51.5% were aged 11-15 years. Subjects with COVID-19 had twice the odds of suicidal ideation (AOR = 2.00,  < 0.01) and more than twice the odds of self-harm (AOR = 2.05,  < 0.01) and poisoning (AOR = 2.21,  < 0.01) compared to those without COVID-19. Adolescents aged 11-15 years had nearly four times the odds of suicidal ideation compared to those aged 6-10 years (AOR = 3.97,  < 0.01) while female participants were significantly more likely to engage in self-harm than male participants (AOR = 1.73,  < 0.01). Our findings suggest a significant association between diagnosed COVID-19 and self-harming behaviours in children and adolescents.