Children and COVID-19 Research Library

This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to comprehensive, school-based physical activity (PA) promotion among adolescents prior to and during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, considering the perspectives of students, parents, and school staff. Data were collected from 2020 to 2021 using semi-structured individual interviews with students (n = 15), parents (n = 20), and school staff (n = 8) at a Title I middle school (i.e. high percentage of students from low-income families). Two theoretical frameworks guided analysis: the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program framework and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Using an iteratively developed codebook, data were coded, thematically analyzed, and synthesized. PA barriers and facilitators were present throughout the school day, at home, and in the community. Key determinants included pandemic-induced challenges (e.g. COVID-19 exposure); neighborhood characteristics/weather (e.g. neighborhood safety); school–family communication/collaboration; implementation climate (i.e. school staff’s support for programming); time, spatial, and monetary resources (e.g. funding); staffing capacity/continuity and school champions; staffing creativity and adaptability; PA opportunities before, during, and after school; and child’s motivation/engagement.

Since the coronavirus COVID-19 was identified as an international public health emergency in 2020, many studies on the perceptions of students in higher education have been published concerning it. Although young students’ perceptions also influence decision making and actions, their perceptions of COVID-19 have, so far, been little studied. Therefore, to increase knowledge about their understanding of COVID-19, a cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted as a drawing survey in two schools in the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region, Morocco. The participants were 94 high school students (aged 14–19). The drawings were analyzed by inductive and deductive content analysis. The findings show that the majority of the students knew the archetypal representation of COVID-19. They had a good grasp of the COVID-19, how it spreads, and how to stop it from spreading. Some students were aware of the potential dangers associated with COVID-19. Admittedly, misrepresentations related to fear and unfamiliarity with COVID-19 lead to mental health issues that undermine the key factors in students’ academic success. Younger children’s representations were dominated by magical thinking that reduces COVID-19 to preventive measures.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to many adverse mental health consequences from the lockdown. It caused an exacerbation of depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. Among the affected populations, high school students were one of the most commonly affected groups. This study is aimed to assess the psychological impact as well as the prevalence of depression and anxiety levels among high school female students during the COVID-19 outbreak in Medina, Saudi Arabia. This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted on a total of 300 high-school female students in Medina, Saudi Arabia between April 2021 and June 2021. Data were collected via an online survey to measure depression and anxiety using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) questionnaires, respectively.

Computer vision syndrome (CVS) can be described as ocular-related symptoms that result from prolonged exposure and use of computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices with digital displays. The main objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of CVS among school-age children, the associated signs, risk factors, and the association between the disease before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional research design. The targeted population was school-going children aged 6 to 18 in the Jazan region in the Southwest of Saudi Arabia. A sample of 440 participants was selected to represent the population under study. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Sociodemographic characteristics were recorded, such as age, gender, education level, parents’ education, occupation, frequency, and intensity of eye symptoms if present. Results: Most of the participants were adolescents between 16 and 18 and at a high-school education level.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant challenges for adolescent mental health. This study aimed to survey adolescent students in China to determine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental health. A multicenter cross-sectional comparative investigation was conducted in March 2022. It collected demographic information and survey data related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener scales were used for objective assessment of depression and anxiety.

The study aims to understand the level of perceived stress and related influencing factors among the urban and rural senior high school students in China and their channels of coping with the stress, when they shifted from home-based online learning to on-campus learning after their return to school during the post-Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period. From January to March 2021, the Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (SSCPs-14) and a self-designed questionnaire were used for the online survey among the senior high school students from six secondary schools (three from cities and three from counties) in three provinces of China (Shandong, Shanghai and Sichuan) who were selected by convenient sampling. Descriptive analysis, t-test, χ2 test and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the data.

Restrictions due to COVID-19 lockdowns reduced the possibilities of children and adolescents for being active, with negative consequences in adopting a healthy lifestyle. This study aims to compare Greek adolescents’ self-reported weekly participation in physical activity, during and before the two initial strict lockdowns, due to COVID-19. Secondary aims were to examine these differences with regard to gender, and associations between weekly physical activity participation with health status variables. Three hundred and sixty-three adolescents (Ν=363) from secondary schools, in the Greek territory (108 boys and 255 girls) filled in the Godin-Shephard Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire and the TNO-AZL Questionnaire for Children’s Health-Related Quality of Life Children’s Form, online. It was a cross-sectional study and data were collected during first and second strict lockdowns, from different adolescents who filled in the above online questionnaires once.

The majority of high school–aged adolescents obtain less than the recommended amount of sleep per night, in part because of imposed early school start times. Utilizing a naturalistic design, the present study evaluated changes in objective measurements of sleep, light, and physical activity before (baseline) and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (during COVID-19) in a group of US adolescents. Sixteen adolescents (aged 15.9 ± 1.2 years, 68.8% female) wore an actigraphy monitor for 7 consecutive days during an in-person week of school before the pandemic (October 2018-February 2020) and again during the pandemic when instruction was performed virtually (May 2020). Delayed weekday sleep onset times of 1.66 ± 1.33 h (p < 0.001) and increased sleep duration of 1 ± 0.87 h (p < 0.001) were observed during COVID-19 compared with baseline. Average lux was significantly higher during COVID-19 compared with baseline (p < 0.001). Weekday physical activity parameters were not altered during COVID-19 compared with baseline, except for a delay in the midpoint of the least active 5 h (p value = 0.044). This analysis provides insight into how introducing flexibility into the traditional school schedule might influence sleep in adolescents.

Mental health consequences and behavior change has been described in elite athletes following the vast impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world of sports. However, most study samples have been of limited size, and few studies have assessed student-athletes. This study aimed to analyze perceived mental health impact, measured as clinical degree of depression and anxiety, worry about one's sport and about one's career, and behavioral change with respect to video gaming behavior, in high-school athletes in Sweden. Data on anxiety and depression as well as on perceived behavioral changes during COVID-19 were collected from students at sports high schools in Sweden (N = 7,025) in February 2021, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic continues to unfold globally, which harms the public’s mental health. Adolescents’ mental health is affected by social isolation and lockdown during the COVID-19 epidemic. The implicit theory of thoughts-emotion-behavior states that individuals with a growth mindset believe that thoughts, emotions, and behaviors can be changed through effort and tend to persist in pursuing higher goals and maintain enthusiasm as well as cope with stress resiliently, thus having higher gritty and levels of mental health. This study aimed to explore the role of grit and coping strategies in the influence of the growth mindset on adolescents’ mental health during the COVID-19 epidemic period. A total of 1564 participants (Mage = 17.02, 760 boys, 804 girls) from three high schools in China were recruited to complete The Self-report Questionnaire-20, The Growth Mindset Scale, The Short Grit Scale, and The Coping Style Scale to evaluate mental health, growth mindset, grit, and positive coping strategies, respectively.

This study investigates the characteristics of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and academic burnout among adolescents in an ethnic minority area in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, and examines the moderating role of core belief challenge on the association between PTG and academic burnout. This study surveyed 941 secondary school students in Wenchuan using the posttraumatic growth inventory, adolescent academic burnout inventory, core beliefs inventory, and a self-designed demographic questionnaire.

Youth voice has been largely absent from deliberations regarding public health measures intended to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, despite being one of the populations most impacted by school-based policies. To inform public health strategies and messages, this study examined the level of student support of mask use in public spaces and school mask requirements, as well as factors associated with students’ perspectives. It used cross-sectional survey data from 42,767 adolescents attending 133 Canadian secondary schools that participated in the COMPASS study during the 2020/2021 school year. Multinomial regression models assessed support for i) wearing a mask in indoor public spaces and ii) schools requiring students to wear masks, in association with COVID-19 knowledge, concerns, and perceived risk.

In addition to other mitigation measures, face masks have been used in schools worldwide as a precondition for allowing school attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The quality and habits of mask wearing have, however, not been evaluated thus far, leaving uncertainty about the efficacy of this measure. It was the aim of this study to assess the accuracy of face mask wearing by children and adolescents in different school situations. In May and June 2022, students of two selected Austrian schools were asked to provide information about the different variations in wearing a face mask in different situations at school (in classrooms with or without the presence of a teacher, and in school buildings outside classrooms without the presence of a teacher).

This study investigated the parallel mediating effects of positive and negative mood states on the relationship between psychological resilience and emotional stability among first- through third-year senior high school students in China during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of 408 questionnaires distributed from April 11 to April 22, 2022, to students at a high school located in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, 360 were completed correctly and analyzed using a cross-sectional study design. The questionnaire included items from the modified Chinese version of the Psychological Resilience Scale, the Profile of Mood States scale, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Short Scale in Chinese, the latter to assess emotional stability.

Little is known about the views of adolescents returning to secondary school during the current COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), formerly known as Public Health England (PHE),recruited staff and students in secondary schools to provide nasal swabs, oral fluid and blood samples for SARS-CoV-2 infection and antibody testing. Students aged 11–18 years in five London schools completed a short questionnaire about their perception of the pandemic, returning to school, risk to themselves and to others and infection control measures, and participating in school testing.