Emotional impact on children during home confinement in Spain

Abstract

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought about important changes. On March 14, 2020, a strict home confinement was decreed in Spain. Children did not attend school and were not allowed to leave their homes. The aim of this study was to determine the emotional state of these children, as well as associated factors.Material and methodsA cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using an online questionnaire sent by cell phone. This survey includes sociodemographic items and questions concerning the emotional impact of the lockdown. With the questions on emotions, two categories of emotional state were established with the variables fear, irritability, sadness and somatization: those who were less or more emotionally affected. A multivariate logistic model was used to estimate the associations between the variables.ResultsA total of 3,890 responses were obtained. The mean age of the children was 6.78 years (range 0 to 16). A score indicating poor emotional state was reported by 40.12%. The multivariate logistic model for poor emotional state was directly associated with having less appetite, sleep disturbances, and with parents' beliefs that their child will have difficulties returning to normal life after lockdown. A better emotional state was associated with being an only child, access to outdoor spaces at home, having pets, and parents informing their children about the pandemic using creative explanations.ConclusionsDuring strict home confinement, a considerable emotional impact was observed in children as described by their parents. Specific elements were associated with a better or poorer emotional state.

The Well-Being of Companion Animal Caregivers and Their Companion Animals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review

“…Other well-being outcomes did not have mixed (i.e., a combination of positive, negative, and/or neutral) findings, but these outcomes tended to be explored in only a small number of studies, so the findings should be interpreted with caution. We found some evidence that having a companion animal was significantly related to lower tensionanxiety [149] (dog caregivers only), greater emotional well-being [171,179], higher coping self-efficacy [112], lower emotional loneliness caused by deficits in romantic relationships [151], lower isolation [100,114,180], increased socializing [119] (dog caregivers only), greater social functioning [179], greater energy [179], greater perceived positive effects of remote working [125], better self-reported job performance [125] and more time spent outside in the fresh air [143,147] (dog caregivers only, in both studies).…”

“…Study population sizes ranged from 4-12,068 (mean: 1686; median: 611). Most studies recruited participants from the general population, although some focused on specific subgroups, including people living alone [133,153]; older adults [85,94,108,110,180,192]; adolescents [137,146,147], both children and adolescents [193], both parents and adolescents [95] or both parents and children [117]; parents [80][81][82]91,143,171]; teleworkers [119,125,172]; employees [183]; university students [111,149] or university students with emotional support animals [126]; individuals identifying as sexual or gender minorities [141]; people with severe mental illness [178]; people with dementia and their caregivers [166]; AIDS survivors [114]; unhoused individuals [105]; people with experience of veterinary consultations during the pandemic [92,93]; people who met the criteria for low-income veterinary care support [145]; people who had suffered the loss of an animal during the pandemic [150]; people who had purchased dogs during lockdown [113,157,158,188]; and domestic abuse helpline staff…”