The study, led by the University of Bristol, is the first of its kind to analyse the mental health of children and young people in local authority care during the pandemic and to explore which factors most influenced this.
One in five children and young people reported that they had self-harmed before (20%) and during (18%) the pandemic.
The report also reveals significant numbers of respondents who indicated a need for mental health support during the pandemic had not sought support or had their request denied – 18% in 2020, rising to 27% in 2021. While a quarter of those in care who were receiving mental health support just before the pandemic reported the frequency of support increased during the pandemic, 29% of respondents in 2020 and 22% in 2021 indicated they no longer had access to mental health support.