The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the mental health and well‐being of children and young people

Cowie, Helen; Myers, Carrie-Anne

doi:10.1111/chso.12430

Cited by 135 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The rapid affectation of healthy movement behaviors and the stress associated with this context may have negative effects not only in the emotional but also cognitive development in children (42, 43). In line with international recommendations (26, 44), these findings suggest that healthy movement behaviors should be a key component in actions designed for enhancing psychosocial health in early childhood and prevent other deleterious effects of the pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Associations between movement behaviors and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile

Aguilar-Farías

Toledo-Vargas

Miranda-Márquez

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: There is limited evidence about emotional and behavioral responses in toddlers and preschoolers during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly in Latin America. Objective: To assess associations between changes in movement behaviors (physical activity, screen time and sleep) and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers during early stages of the pandemic in Chile. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted from March 30th to April 27th, 2020. Main caregivers of 1- to 5-year-old children living in Chile answered an online survey that included questions about sociodemographic characteristics, changes in the child's emotions and behaviors, movement behaviors and caregivers' stress during the pandemic. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess the association between different factors and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers. Results: In total, 1727 caregivers provided complete data on emotional changes for children aged 2.9 (1.36) years old, 47.9% girls. A large proportion of toddlers and preschoolers in Chile experienced emotional and behavioral changes. Most caregivers reported that children were 'more affectionate' (78.9%), 'more restless' (65.1%), and 'more frustrated' (54.1%) compared with pre-pandemic times. Factors such as child age, changes in movement behaviors, caregivers' age and stress, and residential area (urban/rural) were consistently associated with changes in emotions and behaviors. Conclusion: The pandemic substantially affected the emotions and behaviors of toddlers and preschoolers in Chile. Mental health promotion programs should consider multilevel approaches in which the promotion of movement behaviors and support for caregivers should be essential pieces for future responses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Associations between movement behaviors and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile

Aguilar-Farías

Toledo-Vargas

Miranda-Márquez

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The negative effect on healthy levels of movement behaviors and the stress associated with the restrictions may have negative effects not only on the emotional health but also cognitive development in children ( 42 , 43 ). In line with international recommendations ( 27 , 44 ), these findings suggest that healthy movement behaviors should be a key response to support psychosocial health in early childhood and prevent other deleterious effects of the pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Associations Between Movement Behaviors and Emotional Changes in Toddlers and Preschoolers During Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile

et al. 2021

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Background: There is limited evidence about emotional and behavioral responses in toddlers and preschoolers during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly in Latin America.Objective: To assess associations between changes in movement behaviors (physical activity, screen time and sleeping) and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers during early stages of the pandemic in Chile.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted from March 30th to April 27th, 2020. Main caregivers of 1- to 5-year-old children living in Chile answered an online survey that included questions about sociodemographic characteristics, changes in the child's emotions and behaviors, movement behaviors and caregivers' stress during the pandemic. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess the association between different factors and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers.Results: In total, 1727 caregivers provided complete data on emotional changes for children aged 2.9 ± 1.36 years old, 47.9% girls. A large proportion of toddlers and preschoolers in Chile experienced emotional and behavioral changes. Most caregivers reported that children “were more affectionate” (78.9%), “more restless” (65.1%), and ‘more frustrated' (54.1%) compared with pre-pandemic times. Apart from changes in movement behaviors, factors such as child age, caregivers' age and stress, and residential area (urban/rural) were consistently associated with changes in emotions and behaviors.Conclusion: The pandemic substantially affected the emotions and behaviors of toddlers and preschoolers in Chile. The findings suggest that supportive actions for caregivers may have a positive impact not only on adults but also on children. Mental health promotion programs should consider multilevel approaches in which the promotion of movement behaviors and support for caregivers should be essential pieces for future responses.

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“…Additionally, even though COVID-19 was disproportionately impacting the health of older individuals who therefore may have had a higher perceived knowledge of their vulnerability and overall threat of COVID-19 (Banerjee, 2020), adolescents and middle-aged adults had worse mental health outcomes during the pandemic (Barzilay et al, 2020;Ueda et al, 2020). Though little research has been done to examine this discrepancy, financial, and job instability (Witteveen and Velthorst, 2020) in the working-age population and decreased social support structures for younger individuals (Cowie and Myers, 2021) are possible explanations. Adolescents have been singled out as a group particularly impacted by isolation due to the inherent lack of independence during quarantine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association Between Urban Greenspace and Mental Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a U.S. Cohort

Wortzel

Wiebe

DiDomenico

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought unprecedented socially isolating measures to mitigate the spread of disease, heightening the importance of public outdoor urban greenspace. Here, we investigated the association between tree-rich greenspace and mental health in a large opportunity sample surveyed using a crowdsourcing research website (www.covid19resilience.org) between April 6th and October 12th, 2020 during the pandemic in the United States. Participants living in the U.S. (N = 2,089, 83.1% females, mean age 42 years, age range 18–90 years) were mapped to 1,080 unique ZIP Codes and mean tree canopy density was calculated with a 250 m buffer around each ZIP Code grouped by quartile as a proxy for nearby greenspace. Four mental health parameters were assessed: (1) COVID-19-related worries; (2) anxiety symptoms; (3) depression symptoms; and (4) a standardized and weighted composite mental health score of all three parameters. Multivariate regression analyses with multilevel models were used to study the association between nearby greenspace and the four mental health outcomes, controlling for participant demographics and ZIP Code urbanicity. In the entire cohort, increased nearby greenspace showed a significant protective effect for depression (Coef. = −0.27; p = 0.0499), and composite mental health scores (Coef. = −0.19; p = 0.038) when comparing ZIP Codes with the most greenspace to ZIP Codes with the least, with no observed effects on COVID-19 related worries or anxiety individually. Stratifying by age suggested protective trends of greenspace on mental health in older subsets of the population (top age quartile, over 51 years old) experiencing less depression (Coef. = −0.45; p = 0.048) and lower composite mental health scores (Coef. = −0.34; – = 0.032) as a function of nearby greenspace. Additionally, younger subsets of the population (second youngest age quartile, 31–38 years) experienced lower COVID-19 related worries (Coef. = −1.34; p = 0.022) as a function of greenspace. These findings may indicate that tree-rich greenspace plays a protective role on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in certain age groups, supporting the use of greenspace-related strategies to help mitigate mental health burden during this challenging and isolating time.

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The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the mental health and well‐being of children and young people

Cited by 135 publications

References 12 publications

Associations between movement behaviors and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile

Associations between movement behaviors and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile

Associations Between Movement Behaviors and Emotional Changes in Toddlers and Preschoolers During Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile

Association Between Urban Greenspace and Mental Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a U.S. Cohort

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