The psychological symptoms and behavioral problems of children with mothers working as medical staff in the crisis of Covid-19 outbreak in Hamadan, Iran

Abstract

Background and objectivesThe purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological symptoms and behavioral problems of children with mothers working as medical staff in the crisis of Covid-19 disease in Hamadan.MethodsThis descriptive causal-comparative study was conducted on all mothers with children aged 6 to 12 years in Hamadan from September 2 to November 29, 2020. In this study, eligible individuals were selected using random sampling and were assigned to two groups of mothers working as the medical staff and the control group. The research instruments included the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach) and the Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4).ResultsThe results showed that the mean scores of psychological and behavioral symptoms of children in terms of group membership (group of mothers working in the medical staff and control group) had a significant difference. There was a significant difference between the mean scores of depression and aggression in children of the staff group and the control group meaning that for depression and aggression scores of children of the staff group are higher than children of the control group (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the mean anxiety scores and there was almost a significant difference between the attention scores of the staff group and the control group (p < 0.05).ConclusionChildren whose mothers worked as medical staff during Covid-19 show more depression, attention, and aggression problems than children whose mothers do not work as medical staff.