Psychological Symptoms and Behavioral Changes in Children and Adolescents During the Early Phase of COVID-19 Quarantine in Three European Countries

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic forced the home confinement of the majority of population around the world, including a significant number of children and adolescents, for several weeks in 2020. Negative psychological effects have been identified in adults, but research about the impact of this type of social distancing measure on children and adolescents is scarce. The present study aimed to describe and compare the immediate psychological and behavioral symptoms associated with COVID-19 quarantine in children and adolescents from three southern European countries with different levels of restrictions (Italy, Spain, and Portugal). Parents of 1,480 children and adolescents (52.8% boys) between 3 and 18 years old (M = 9.15, SD = 4.27) participated in the study. An online survey using snowball sampling techniques was conducted during 15 days between March and April 2020, representing the early phase of the quarantine associated with COVID-19 outbreak. Parents answered questionnaires about sociodemographic data, housing conditions, immediate psychological responses during quarantine (e.g., anxiety, mood, sleep, and behavioral alterations), patterns of use of screens, daily physical activity, and sleep hours before and during the quarantine. The results revealed an increase in children's psychological and behavioral symptoms, increased screen-time, reduced physical activity, and more sleep hours/night. Italian children presented less psychological and behavioral symptoms compared with Portuguese and Spanish children. In general, hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that having an outdoor exit in the house (e.g., garden, terrace) contributed to lower levels of psychological and behavioral symptomatology. Future studies are needed to identify family and individual variables that can better predict children and adolescents' well-being during and after quarantine. Recommendations for families and implications for practice are discussed.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Behavioral and Emotional Aspects and Daily Routines of Arab Israeli Children

“…This situation can be explained by the anxiety, fears of the virus and the stress period that the children and families face. Stress-related sleep problems are common and particularly during the quarantine period [ 18 , 19 , 33 , 49 , 50 ].…”

“…Some previous studies suggest that the effects may be troublesome [ 18 ]. Recent studies found that, compared to pandemic quarantines, being more structured, class days give children more opportunities to be physically active, spend less time in front of screens, and regulate their sleep schedules [ 7 , 19 ]. Additionally, pandemic stressors such as being in isolations, one of the family members infection of Coronavirus, frustration and boredom may have even more negative impacts on children’s behavior and emotions [ 20 , 21 ].…”

DetectaWeb-Distress Scale: A Global and Multidimensional Web-Based Screener for Emotional Disorder Symptoms in Children and Adolescents

“…Later, in 2019, Canals et al found a prevalence of any anxiety disorder of 11.8%, with high rates of comorbidity with depression and other anxiety disorders, low use of professional support (33.3%), and high persistence of diagnosis in a 2-year follow-up (52.9%). More recently, the increase of psychological and behavioral changes, especially emotional symptoms, in Spanish children and adolescents during the early phase of COVID-19 quarantine has been reported (Francisco et al, 2020 ). Also, this presence of emotional symptoms, among others, at subclinical level raise the risk of subsequent development of mental disorder (Fonseca-Pedrero et al, 2020 ).…”

Are Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Infants and Children Aged Younger Than 7 Years Related to Screen Time Exposure During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Confinement? An Exploratory Study in Portugal

“…Another possibility is that older children have a steeper decrease in other fundamental activities when participating in screen activities, such as outdoors and free playtime activities. Some studies revealed that children suffered significant changes in their daily habits during the confinement period, spending more than 3 h using screens and halving the time spent in physical activities (Francisco et al, 2020;Morgül et al, 2020).…”