Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents: Cognitive and Emotional Representations
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Children and Adolescents’ Representation of COVID-19 and Perceived Adverse Effects
1.2. Emotional Responses during the COVID-19 Pandemic
1.3. Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic
2. Method
2.1. Study Design and Participants
2.2. Research Materials
2.3. Results
3. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
References
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Participants’ Exact Answers | N | % |
---|---|---|
Pandemic | 20 | 14.53 |
Disease | 13 | 9.93 |
Mask | 57 | 41.3 |
Doctors | 3 | 2.17 |
Disinfectant | 6 | 4.65 |
Danger | 1 | 0.07 |
Quarantine | 4 | 2.89 |
Virus | 12 | 8.95 |
Sadness | 3 | 2.17 |
Something that seems never to end | 2 | 1.44 |
Keep moving no matter what | 1 | 0.07 |
Death | 7 | 5.32 |
Family | 3 | 2.17 |
Online | 3 | 2.17 |
Isolation | 3 | 2.17 |
Self-Reported Negative Effects | N | % |
---|---|---|
1 (not at all) | 15 | 9.7 |
2 (a little) | 40 | 25.8 |
3 (moderately) | 42 | 27.1 |
4 (pretty much) | 31 | 20.0 |
5 (a lot) | 27 | 17.4 |
Perceived negative effects on their families | ||
1 (not at all) | 18 | 11.6 |
2 (a little) | 33 | 21.3 |
3 (moderately) | 43 | 27.7 |
4 (pretty much) | 46 | 29.7 |
5 (a lot) | 15 | 9.7 |
Category | Example | N | % |
---|---|---|---|
New health rules and regulations | Since the pandemic, we have to wear a mask all the time | 11 | 12.15 |
Online classes | The worst thing about the pandemic is the online classes | 24 | 26.37 |
Lack of face-to-face interaction | I could not see and talk to my friends and colleagues without a computer | 12 | 13.27 |
Negative emotions | Since the pandemic, I have been sad/worried a lot | 13 | 13.98 |
Isolation | I felt isolated from everything | 11 | 12.15 |
Change | I can’t handle any more changes | 7 | 7.75 |
Lack of physical contact | Even if we are back to school from time to time, I can’t hug or touch my friends anymore; it’s against the rules. | 7 | 7.75 |
Self or others’ health issues | I think about all the people who died or got sick I constantly think about the time I was sick, when I had COVID-19 | 4 | 4.39 |
School-related issues | I am not doing good in school anymore, since the pandemic, I can’t concentrate as much as before COVID-19. | 2 | 2.19 |
Category | Example | N | % |
---|---|---|---|
New rules for work/employment | Because my parents had to work from home, and they did not like that at all. | 4 | 6.25 |
Online classes | My family didn’t find it easy to adjust to my online classes | 5 | 7.50 |
Lack of face-to-face interaction | My parents missed seeing their friends and family face to face | 2 | 3.34 |
Negative emotions | We were all worried and scared because of the virus | 6 | 8.80 |
Isolation | We all felt isolated inside our homes | 5 | 7.50 |
Change | It is hard to follow the new rules for shopping, for example, such as specific shopping hours/They had to make a lot of changes and adapt to new rules | 3 | 4.95 |
Direct experience of COVID-19 | Because my parents had COVID-19. | 3 | 4.95 |
Health regulations | They did not like wearing a mask all the time2 | 6 | 8.80 |
Worries related to others’ health issues (e.g., grandparents) | My parents felt worried all the time for my grandparents; they were afraid they might catch the COVID-19 virus and die. | 13 | 20.31 |
Parents’ worries related to their children | My parents were worried for me and my brother, that we would get sick. | 4 | 6.25 |
Worries about personal health issues | My parents were worried they would get sick and die. | 3 | 4.95 |
Economical issues | We ran out of money/My parents were worried we would not have money for food. | 10 | 16.40 |
Positive Perception Source | Example | N | % |
---|---|---|---|
Poor Internet connection | The connection is really bad, half of the time we’re just trying to reconnect. | 52 | 41.93 |
Lack of understanding the educational content | I can not understand everything the teachers as saying or trying to teach us. | 28 | 22.58 |
Lack of face-to-face interaction with their colleagues and friends from school | I can’t see my friends and colleagues from school anymore | 24 | 19.35 |
Boredom | Online classes are really boring, and I get bored a lot. | 3 | 2.41 |
Tiredness | Online classes tire me/I feel extremely tired after attending the online classes. | 2 | 1.61 |
Negative perception source | Example | N | % |
Feelings of security/protection | We are safe and protected at home. | 2 | 1.61 |
Lower complexity | It’s easier to learn online, not as hard as it is in school. | 4 | 3.22 |
Comfort | It’s much more comfortable to learn from your own home. | 7 | 5.68 |
Lack of protective equipment | We do not have to wear a mask at home, and I hate masks. | 2 | 1.61 |
Self-Reported Coping Mechanisms (Answers Coded: N = 148) | Example | N | % |
---|---|---|---|
Positive thinking | I always thought about good, positive things instead of the pandemic. | 41 | 27.70 |
Family relationships | Being close to my family helped me the most. | 21 | 14.19 |
Using protective equipment | Since the pandemic started, I wear a mask all the time, and I always wash my hands so I don’t get sick | 15 | 10.14 |
Optimism | I remained optimistic: it has to end at a certain point, and things will be better. | 9 | 6.09 |
Art/Artistic activities | I started painting and drawing a lot; it helped me especially during the quarantine. | 7 | 4.8 |
Faith | Praying and talking to God helped me a lot. | 3 | 2.03 |
Technology | The pandemic was a lot easier to handle due to technology, it personally helped me a lot with everything. | 3 | 2.03 |
Emotion regulation | Staying calm even when I was really scared. | 2 | 1.36 |
Sports | I played a lot of football and basketball, anything to keep me moving | 4 | 2.71 |
Cognitive suppression | Thinking about anything else but the pandemic | 14 | 9.46 |
Play | I played a lot and it helped me | 6 | 4.06 |
Obeying the social distancing rules | We stayed inside our home as much as possible to respect the social distancing rules | 12 | 8.11 |
Friends | My friends helped me a lot, especially at the beginning, when I was so scared! | 11 | 7.32 |
Others’ coping mechanisms (Answers coded: N = 123) | Example | N | % |
Positive thinking | 50 | 40.65 | |
Cognitive suppression | Thinking about anything else but the pandemic | 10 | 8.13 |
Optimism | I remained optimistic: it has to end at a certain point, and things will be better. | 9 | 7.31 |
Family relationships | I think their family helped them the most, being close to one another. | 9 | 7.31 |
Technology | Technology helped people the most because it helped all of us communicate. | 1 | 0.81 |
Pets | I think it was important for people to have a pet during the pandemic, it might have helped them a lot. | 2 | 1.63 |
Unknown source | I don’t know | 4 | 3.27 |
Self-trust | Believing in themselves | 2 | 1.63 |
Friends | Friends are always very helpful; they helped me, so I think other people were helped by friends, too. | 2 | 1.63 |
Entertainment | Playing games and watching TV | 3 | 2.44 |
Obeying the rules | Respecting the social distancing rules in shops and everywhere else | 18 | 14.63 |
Using protective equipment | Wearing a mask and gloves | 12 | 9.75 |
Positive emotions | I think that people who tried to feel happy got through the pandemic easier | 1 | 0.81 |
Positive Outcomes | Example | N | % |
---|---|---|---|
Evolution | The new technological changes help as evolve | 1 | 4.54 |
Family time | The pandemic helped us spend more time with our families | 9 | 40.90 |
Social distance | I am happy that, due to the pandemic, I did not have to socialize with others anymore | 1 | 4.54 |
Environmental improvements | The pandemic will reduce global warming and pollution | 2 | 9.09 |
Self-care improvement | The pandemic taught us to take more care of ourselves | 3 | 13.64 |
Responsibility | The pandemic made us more responsible | 4 | 18.20 |
Healthcare improvements | The pandemic made us stronger; we do not get sick as quickly as before | 2 | 9.09 |
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Maftei, A.; Merlici, I.-A.; Roca, I.-C. Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents: Cognitive and Emotional Representations. Children 2022, 9, 359. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030359
Maftei A, Merlici I-A, Roca I-C. Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents: Cognitive and Emotional Representations. Children. 2022; 9(3):359. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030359
Chicago/Turabian StyleMaftei, Alexandra, Ioan-Alex Merlici, and Iulia-Cristina Roca. 2022. "Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents: Cognitive and Emotional Representations" Children 9, no. 3: 359. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030359