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Short-term and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child psychological well-being: a four-wave longitudinal study.
- Source :
- European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry; Mar2024, Vol. 33 Issue 3, p909-922, 14p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- As the COVID-19 pandemic further unfolds, it becomes a key theoretical and practical question to identify trajectories of child psychological well-being and to explore risk and resilience factors for developmental adjustment. The current study addressed this research gap by means of an ecological design: A (lockdown)–B (relaxation)–B (relaxation)–A (lockdown). We collected parental reports via online questionnaires over four measurement occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany (non-probabilistic sample): from the first lockdown (T1—spring 2020, N = 1769) to the following period of relaxation (T2—summer 2020, n = 873; T3—fall 2020, n = 729) on to the second lockdown (T4—winter 2020/21, n = 748). Key measures at T1–T4 were child emotional and behavioral problems as well as hyperactivity, child emotional and family-related well-being, parental strain, and parent–child relationship quality. We found evidence for quadratic growth models. While child problem behaviors (b = 0.32, p < 0.001) and emotional well-being (b = − 0.33, p < 0.001) improved after the first lockdown during subsequent periods of relaxation before worsening again in the second lockdown, child family-related well-being steadily decreased over all four measurement points (T1–T2: p < 0.001; T2–T3: p = 0.045; T3–T4: p = 0.030). Importantly, parental stress emerged as a strong risk factor (ps < 0.11) and the parent–child relationship quality constituted a resilience factor (p = 0.049) for child psychological well-being. These findings have major implications for policies aiming to further child health during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- CHILDREN'S health
STATISTICAL power analysis
PSYCHOLOGICAL resilience
MENTAL health
RESEARCH funding
QUESTIONNAIRES
PARENT-child relationships
PARENT attitudes
EMOTIONS
HUMAN growth
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
DISEASES
STAY-at-home orders
BEHAVIOR disorders in children
LONGITUDINAL method
MEDICAL research
PSYCHOLOGICAL stress
CONCEPTUAL structures
CHILD development
HYPERKINESIA
COVID-19 pandemic
WELL-being
PSYCHOLOGICAL adjustment testing
ECOLOGICAL research
RELAXATION for health
DISEASE risk factors
CHILDREN
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10188827
- Volume :
- 33
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 175635567
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02215-7