Psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctors’ children: are we heading towards a mental health pandemic?

Abstract

Background The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) may affect the behavior of children.
 Non infected children of doctors seem to be susceptible to psychosocial health disorders.
 Objective To assess the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children of doctors.
 Methods This questionnaire-based survey filled up by doctors was done with the Pediatric Symptom Check List-17 (PSC-17) to assess the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctors’ children aged 10-15 years with no clinical evidence of being infected with coronavirus and possible contributing factors to mental distress/psychosocial health disorders. A PSC -17 Score of ≥15 was considered as a significant indicator of suspected psychosocial impact.
 Results Children’s mean age was 12.5 (SD 1.9) years, and 53.8% of them were male. Of 357 questionnaire responses, 36.1% had a significant PSC-17 score (>15) and a small, but significant inverse correlation was observed with age (r=-0.147; P=0.005). More screen time than usual was perceived by doctors to be the most common potential contributing factor (63%) to their children’s psychosocial impact.
 Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to leave lasting effects on children’s mental health. Parents should closely monitor children for any changes in psychosocial behavior, so that timely intervention can be considered. Psychosocial screening of children is needed and should be conducted at schools.

The Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on PK–12 Students: A Systematic Review of Emerging Literature

“…Additionally, they found that the emotional benefits of exercise were curbed by lowered physical activity associated with increased screen time. Parents in Omer et al’s (2021) study considered increased screen time for their children to be “a matter of great concern” (p. 50). Chen et al (2021) found an increase in Internet gaming addiction after the beginning of the pandemic, which was significantly correlated with rates of depression, anxiety, and stress.…”

[Retracted] Analysis of the Effects of Arts and Crafts in Public Mental Health Education Based on Artificial Intelligence Technology

“…A prosperous socioeconomic environment is naturally conducive to the development of arts and crafts and provides a material basis for their development. Only arts and crafts that penetrate deeply into people's lives can develop harmoniously in the social environment, so that their artistic personality can gain vitality and win people's consensus [18][19][20][21].…”