Peculiarities of Requests for Distance Psychological Assistance During the Period of Self-Isolation (COVID-19)

The article presents the data on the nature of changes in public requests of the population for distance psychological assistance during the pandemia and self-isolation period (January to May 2020). The empirical material was the data of the Children’s Confidential Helpline of the FSBEI of Higher Education of the Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, which is connected to the unified all-Russian number of the Children’s Helpline 8-800-2000-122 and provides psychological assistance to teenagers and their parents (mainly living in Moscow). On the basis of the analysis of 17449 calls in January-May 2020, and comparison of the data for the similar periods in 2010-2019, it has been revealed that the quantity of requests increased in January by 38,02%, in February by 49,0%, in March by 43,06%, in April by 13,26%, in May by 14,56%. The increase in the number of calls is due to the information requests in connection with the pandemic and self-isolation, while the share of psychological consultations decreased from March to April. In some months, the structure of the content of psychological consultations has slightly changed towards the increase of proportion of consultations associated with child-parent conflicts, health problems, children’s social adaptation, antivitality feelings and suicidal behavior, as well as alcohol consumption and smoking. The number of requests from teenagers decreased in April and May 2020 by more than 50%. The data obtained may serve to assess the population’s need for psychological assistance in conditions of limitations associated with a pandemia, and may indicate a possible reduction in the availability of psychological assistance for children during a period of self-isolation.

1. Analiticheskii byulleten’ NIU VShE ob ekonomicheskikh i sotsial’nykh posledstviyakh koronavirusa v Rossii i v mire. No. 1. 14.05.2020 [The HSE Analytical Bulletin on the Economic and Social Consequences of Coronavirus in Russia and the World. No. 1. 14.05.2020]. Natsional’nyi issledovatel’skii universitet “Vysshaya shkola ekonomiki” [National Research University “High School of Economics”]. Available at: https://www.hse.ru/mirror/pubs/share/366228092.pdf (Accessed 20.05.2020).
2. Vikhristyuk O.V., Gayazova L.A., Ermolaeva A.V. Model’ podgotovki i soprovozhdeniya spetsialistov detskogo telefona doveriya v sisteme dopolnitel’nogo obrazovaniya [Model of training and support of spe cialists of children’s telephone trust in the system of additional education]. Psikhologiya i pravo [Psychology and Law], 2019. Vol. 9. no. 3. pp. 84–97. doi: 10.17759/psylaw.2019090307.
3. Gil’yano A.S., Baranova E.M. Eticheskie printsipy v internet-konsul’tirovanii: postanovka problemy [Ethical principles in online consulting: problem statement]. Vestnik prakticheskoi psikhologii obrazovaniya [Bulletin of Practical Psychology of Education], 2017, no. 2 (51). pp. 69–73. Available at: https://psyjournals.ru/vestnik_psyobr/2017/n2/Guiliano_Baranova.shtml (Accessed 17.06.2020).
4. Mikhailova E.A. Telefony doveriya kak instrument profilaktiki sotsial’nogo neblagopoluchiya [Helplines as a tool for preventing social ill-being]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya [Monitoring Public Opinion], 2013, no. 7 (113), pp. 109–113. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/telefony-doveriya-kak-instrumentprofilaktiki-sotsialnogo-neblagopoluchiya (Accessed 20.05.2020).
5. Raspredelenie postoyannogo naseleniya po vozrastu i polu [Distribution of the resident population by age and sex]. Upravlenie Federal'noi sluzhby gosudarstvennoi statistiki po g. Moskve i Moskovskoi oblasti [Office of the Federal State Statistics Service for Moscow and the Moscow Region]. Available at: https://mosstat.gks.ru/storage/mediabank/Распределение%20по%20полу%20и%20возрасту(1).doc (Accessed 20.05.2020).
6. Ahmed M. Z. et al. Epidemic of COVID-19 in China and associated Psychological Problems. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 2020. Vol. 51, June. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102092.
7. Child Helpline Services and the COVID-19 Outbreak. Child Helpline International. Available at: https://www.childhelplineinternational.org/child-helplines/tools/coronavirus/the-covid-19-outbreak-and-childhelpline-services/ (Accessed 04.06 2020).
8. Cliffe B. et al. Clinicians’ use of and attitudes towards technology to provide and support interventions in child and adolescent mental health services. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 2020. Vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 95–101. doi: 10.1111/camh.12362.
9. Garfin D. R., Silver R. C., Holman E. A. The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure. Health Psychology, 2020. Vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 355–357. doi: 10.1037/hea0000875.
10. Holmes E. A. et al. Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID‐19 pandemic: A call for action for mental health science. Lancet Psychiatry, 2020, no. 7(6), pp. 547–560. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30168-1.
11. Marques L. et al. Three steps to flatten the mental health need curve amid the COVID‐19 pandemic. Depression and Anxiety, 2020, no. 37, pp. 405–406. doi: 10.1002/da.23031.
12. Policy brief: The impact of COVID-19 on children. 15 April 2020. United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/policy_brief_on_covid_impact_on_children_16_april_2020.pdf (Accessed 20.05 2020).
13. Stein M. B. Mental health participation in the fight against the COVID‐19 pandemic. Depress Anxiety, 2020, no. 37, pp. 404. doi: 10.1002/da.23027.
14. Taylor C. B., Fitzsimmons‐Craft E.E., Graham A. K. Digital technology can revolutionize mental health services delivery: The COVID‐19 crisis as a catalyst for change. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2020. Vol. 53, no. 1. doi: 10.1002/eat.23300.
15. Van Dolen W. M., Weinberg C. B., Ma L. The influence of unemployment and divorce rate on child helpseeking behavior about violence, relationships, and other issues. Child Abuse & Neglect, 2013. Vol. 37 (2/3), pp. 172–180. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.09.014.