A report by online support service Kooth highlights higher proportions of people from BAME backgrounds dying from Covid-19 and school closures as the main reasons for a surge in anxiety among under-18s.
The study found that over the last three months depression among BAME children and young people increased by 9.2 per cent compared with the same time period last year.
Over the same period, depression in white children and young people dropped by 16.2 per cent, according to Kooth.
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Anxiety has increased by 11.4 per cent among BAME children and young people compared with a three per cent increase among white under-18s, Kooth says.
Meanwhile, the study saw an increase of 26.6 per cent of BAME young people having suicidal thoughts compared with 18.1 per cent of white young people.
Researchers analysed data from requests for support from 51,321 young people of which 7,482 were from a BAME background.
Some 85 per cent of NHS trusts in England and Wales use Kooth to deliver mental health support to under-18s.
One young person who contacted the service told counsellors: “There might be another coronavirus outbreak because people are too close together and I’m scared that it’s just going to ruin my last year of primary and the start of secondary school.”
Dr Lynne Green, chief clinical officer for Kooth’s XenZone, said: “While we all experience a continuum of emotions on a regular basis, the flood of mixed emotions for this community is likely to be experienced as overwhelming. And we know that emotional overwhelm is one of the key symptoms of anxiety and depression.
“It is so crucial that we work with our young BAME population to help them to make sense of their experiences and feelings; support them to break down the areas of concern into manageable chunks and gain a sense of control in the here and now as well as in relation to their future prospects. With support from our BAME colleagues at XenZone, we are challenging ourselves to better understand what is going on for this clearly vulnerable cohort.”
Meanwhile, a new report from the Childhood Trust warns that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are at higher risk of developing serious psychological illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, due to the pandemic.
Dr Maria Loades, a clinical psychologist from the University of Bath, says in the report that lockdown measures are "likely to increase the risk of depression and probable anxiety, as well as possible post-traumatic stress".
School closures, lack of access to technology, food poverty and increased risk of homeless are all cited as contributing to a decline in mental health among disadvantaged children by the report.
An increase in abuse and neglect for some children stuck at home during lockdown as well as witnessing parents’ alcohol and drug abuse increases the risk of developing a mental health condition for thousands of children in the UK, the report adds.
It states: "Children and young people caring for family members with substance abuse and/or alcohol problems may find their physical and mental health, relationships, and educational outcomes significantly more impacted than prior to the Covid-19 restrictions.”
The Childhood Trust surveyed 2,000 children with existing mental health conditions, 83 per cent of whom said Covid-19 had made their mental health worse.
