Consequences of COVID-19 Confinement on Anxiety, Sleep and Executive Functions of Children and Adolescents in Spain

Abstract

Children and adolescents are not indifferent to the dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to be forced to live in confinement. The change in life to which they have been abruptly subjected forces us to understand the state of their mental health in order to adequately address both their present and future needs. The present study was carried out with the intention of studying the consequences of confinement on anxiety, sleep routines and executive functioning of 1,028 children and adolescents, aged from 6 to 18 years, residing in Spain to; assess if there are differences regarding these consequences in terms of sex and age; how anxiety affects executive functioning in males and females; and to examine the possible correlations between the measured variables. For this purpose, an online questionnaire containing five sections was designed: the first section gathers information on sociodemographic and health data, while the following sections gather information from different standardized scales which measure anxiety, sleep and executive functions, whose items were adapted in order to be completed by parents, and/or legal guardians. The statistical analyzes carried out highlights significant differences in executive functioning between males and females. In turn, in regards to age, greater difficulties were detected in anxiety in the 9 to 12 age group and greater sleep disturbances between 13 and 18 year olds. On the other hand, significant differences were found in intra-sexual executive functioning depending on whether they presented greater or lesser anxiety, with executive functioning being more tendentiously maladjusted in males than in females, revealing a significantly relevant effect size (p = 0.001; ω2 = 0.27 BRIEF-2; ω2 = 0.19 BDEFS-CA; 95%). Positive correlations are obtained between state anxiety and sleep and executive functioning alterations. Finally, through Path Analysis, it is verified that state anxiety is the variable with the greatest weight within the model that would explain the alteration in the executive functioning of the present sample.

How does the COVID-19 affect mental health and sleep among Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal follow-up study

“…The lack of regular social interaction [ 11 , 12 ], decreased physical activity level [ 13 , 14 ], and more electronic screen time [ 15 , 16 ] were all considered as the contributors to poor sleep quality and mental disturbance, and when combined with such a major public health event-the COVID-19 outbreak, were expected to induce remarkable changes in sleep and psychological health in the short and long term [ 7 , [17] , [18] , [19] ]. In line with these predictions, several cross-sectional and qualitative studies from different countries revealed a high prevalence of anxiety and depression in confined adolescents [ [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] ]. A longitudinal study, in which 1339 adolescents aged between 9 and 18 from three countries (USA, Netherlands, Peru) were recruited, indicated that the symptoms of depression significantly increased during the pandemic, whereas the symptoms of anxiety remained unchanged [ 24 ].…”

“…The cross-sectional COVID-19 studies have also demonstrated the relationship between the change of mental health and sleep due to the COVID-19 pandemic [ 21 , 26 , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] ]. For instance, Hyun, Hahm [ 33 ] reported that the symptoms of depression and anxiety explained poor sleep quality in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Impact of COVID-19 Home Confinement in Children’s Refractive Errors

“…The changes in Spanish children’s lifestyles have affected many aspects of their lives, increasing their sedentary behaviors [ 30 ], decreasing physical activity [ 31 ], and even producing changes in their mental health [ 32 ]. According to our results, children’s vision has been also affected, with a decrease in the hyperopia rates, an increase in the emmetropia rates, and a decrease in the mean value of SE in children examined in 2020 when compared to 2019.…”

Determining the Religious Coping Styles of Adolescents in Turkey During COVID-19

“…Cognitive skills, which develop in parallel with periodic maturation, push adolescents toward new evaluations and abstractions concerning both themselves and their environment (Lavigne-Cerván et al, 2021 ). Adolescence can also be a period of depression, anger, conflict, and anxiety (Ellis et al, 2020 ).…”