Objectives: This study reports levels of wellbeing and symptoms of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, sleep disturbances, as well as the incidence of self-harm behaviours, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts among Uruguayan adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, by comparing self-report data corresponding to the times before and during the pandemic across gender and prior diagnosis of mental health disorder. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study using data from the international COH-FIT survey, involving 282 Uruguayan adolescents aged 14-17 (56.4% female), who were recruited through convenience sampling. Results: We observed an overall increase in self-reported symptoms of mental disorders and a decrease in wellbeing among adolescents. In addition, a high number of adolescents reported non-suicidal self-harm (25.9%), suicidal ideation (38.6%) and suicide attempts (6.7%). Regarding subgroup analyses, female adolescents and adolescents with a prior diagnosis of a mental health disorder presented lower levels of self-reported wellbeing, higher levels of symptoms of mental disorders, and a higher frequency of self-harm behaviours and suicidal ideation. Conclusion: We observed a deterioration in wellbeing and symptoms of mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, being the high frequency of suicidal ideation of particular concern.

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Keywords:
COVID-19, mental health, adolescents, well-being, psychopathological symptoms, suicide

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