Letter re: COVID-19’s Implications on Adolescent vs Adult Trauma

We read with great interest a report published by Ruhi-Williams et al ¹ in which a study was conducted to determine adolescent trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to adults and children in the state of California. Ruhi-Williams and the authors provide great insight into the implications of the pandemic between 2019 and 2020 on adolescents, such as higher drug positivity and suicide attempts. In addition, they indicated that when California Safe at Home Orders was initiated, these adolescents had significantly lower social interactions with their peers due to schools and social events moving to an online platform.

Results showcase that due to the pandemic, adolescents expressed increased drug positivity and risky behaviors; however, penetrating trauma did not improve. Other studies, such as Liang et al, ² explored the mental health consequences of COVID-19 on adolescents, finding that trauma levels and psychological problems increased among adolescents. There is a limitation of only including adolescents who were in trauma as it is not an exclusive representation of all the adolescents present. Other adolescents who are not trauma patients experienced a significant change in spending more time at home, online schooling, and limited social interactions, which may result in some level of trauma. Overall, it would have been interesting to see the differences in adolescent trauma in earlier years before COVID-19, such as in 2017 and 2018, compared to the peak pandemic year 2020. Furthermore, no data was collected regarding the transition into the pandemic, so information from a few years before the pandemic and afterward would also represent the knowledge of trauma present in adolescents.

Additionally, analysis of different age groups would help understand trauma levels amongst other age groups. Comparing adult trauma patients in this study would have given a broader understanding of the differences between adolescents and adults. In a study by Rutherford et al, ³ adult trauma patients reported increased post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to living alone and illnesses during the pandemic. Administering a survey to adolescent and adult trauma patients during the same time frame provides more insight into the contrast of trauma experienced and the reasons. Adults and adolescents from different regions of the United States and the world have various socioeconomic and geographical differences that would further affect mental and physical health based on pandemic lifestyles.

While we have brought insight to these points, the authors did a great job providing a highlight of the overall adolescent trauma in comparison to adults and children. We hope to see further studies on adolescent trauma as situations transition back to normal.