Ethics, youth mental health, and infectious disease outbreaks

To control the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak governments around the world have introduced public health measures including social distancing, isolation, and quarantine. This has created conflicts between competing ethical values, particularly protecting the publics' health and safety v. respecting individuals' liberty and preferences. Concerns have been raised about the impact of currently-implemented measures on people's mental health. Children and young people may be affected in unique ways, due to their younger age and specific role in society. Yet, their mental health needs may be easily overlooked when professional care is devoted to those who are in most immediate need, i.e. the immunocompromised and the elderly. The aim of this project is to conduct a systematic review of the evidence on the impact of social distancing, isolation, and quarantine on young people's mental health and wellbeing, and to interpret it in light of the ethics literature on public health emergencies. This work will be used to develop a UNICEF working paper focused on ethically-robust policy recommendations, so that public health measures that will be implemented in future infectious disease outbreaks are mindful of children's mental health needs. Children, young people, COVID-19, mental health, ethics, UNICEF, systematic review