Pathological media consumption

In 2020, we developed a questionnaire on problematic internet and media use (PUI) as a screening tool for patients in child and adolescent psychiatry. This questionnaire ("PUI-SQ") has since been tested and validated in several studies and in clinical practice. It has been developed in versions for children (aged 8 to 13), for adolescents (aged 14 and over) and for their parents (of children aged 8 to 18).

The PUI-SQ was successfully used in the COVID study ("Corona crisis, psyche and media use") and its follow-up study ("Corona-Krise, Psyche und Mediennutzung 2.0"), in a prospective clinical study "PUI in der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie" in 2022 and in a school population in 2022. The focus of these studies was on the mental health and problematic media use of patients who were receiving professional treatment at the KJPP Zurich at the time of the lockdown in 2020 or the pandemic in 2021. Anna Werling examined the effects of the pandemic and, in particular, the contact restrictions on mentally ill children and adolescents.

After-effects of the coronavirus pandemic on child and adolescent psychiatric care
In addition, an "Online-Umfrage für Fachleute: Einfluss der COVID-19-Pandemie auf Kinder und Jugendliche mit psychischen Störungen" was conducted in 2021 to investigate the after-effects of the corona pandemic on child and adolescent psychiatric care. In this study, the experiences of N=454 mental health professionals, mainly from German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, were analyzed. Anna Werling was able to show that there was a sharp increase in referrals during the pandemic, particularly for depression, anxiety disorders, crisis interventions, psychosomatic disorders, suicidality and behavioral addictions, e.g. excessive video gaming. In addition, various pandemic phases were identified, including the finding that most patients did not experience the highest psychological stress during the lockdown, but in the period from January to March 2021, according to the experts.

The above-mentioned studies have so far resulted in four master's theses and five publications. The study results have been presented in lectures at national (e.g. SGZ, SGKJPP, SFG) and international congresses (e.g. DGKJPP, ESCAP).