JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. It rapidly spread due to strong evidence of human-to-human transmission, resulting in a pandemic throughout the world. Almost all countries around the world, including Qatar, have established guidelines and regulations to limit the spread of the virus and to preserve the health of societies. Unfortunately, these procedures were often associated with some negative effects on individuals’ psychological and intellectual well-being, including children and adolescents.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to screen the psychological part of home isolation and social distancing on children and adolescents, and the strategies used to cope with it.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study that was undertaken using an online questionnaire administered through SMS. All home-isolated children and adolescents registered in Primary Health Care Corporation aged 7-18 years old were invited to participate in the study. Children and adolescents with intellectual disadvantages were excluded. A P value .05 (two tailed) was considered statistically significant.

Results:

Data were collected from 6608 participants through the period of June 23rd to July 18th, 2020. Almost all the participants followed the official regulations during the period of home isolation and social distancing, and 69.1% of their parents expressed their children and adolescents were vulnerable to the virus as an average person, compared to 25% who expressed they were not vulnerable at all. Severe levels of anger, depression and general anxiety were prevalent amongst 1.3%, 3.9% and 1.6% of participants respectively. The mean score of the emotional constructs anger and depression decreased with the increase of following official instructions, with P value of .04 and .11 respectively. The difference in mean score of all psychological and coping strategies used among participants across the three levels of vulnerability to coronavirus, were statistically significant. The mean score trend varied little with the escalation of the level of vulnerability to the virus. This mild variation can make a difference when sample size is large as in case of this study.

Conclusions:

Screening for psychological and social disruptions is of importance to develop strategies by schools and healthcare providers to assess and monitor behavioral changes and negative psychologically during reintegration post-COVID-19. Participants experiencing higher levels of anxieties should be given extra attention during reintegration and transitional phases in schools. Although electronic devices and social media platforms may have lowered the level of anxiety in some cases, it is important to address how electronic devices and social media platforms are used and how content is tailored for children and adolescents. It is also important to maintain an active lifestyle for children and young adults, and encourage them not to neglect their physical health, as it promotes better psychological state of mind.