Supervisors info:
Κουτελέκος Ιωάννης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής, ΠΑΔΑ
Μπακοπούλου Φλώρα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Ζαρταλούδη Αφροδίτη, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής, ΠΑΔΑ
Summary:
BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents belong to the population groups that were most
affected at a mental, social and physical level, due to the advent of the pandemic and the
restrictive measures implemented to safeguard public health and the safety of citizens. The
pandemic and quarantine, with the restrictive measures applied each time, affects their
psychosocial development, behaviour, school life, family and friendships.
AIM: The purpose of this study was to highlight the psychological impact of children and
adolescents in Covid-19 after the lifting of restrictions due to pandemic COVID-19.
METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted using an appropriate
measurement tool, with a convenience sample. The study was carried out in a hospital in Greece
between June and August 2021. The sample consisted of 100 children and adolescents of the
Trikala Regional Unit immediately after the lifting of restrictions due to the COVID-19
pandemic. A new questionnaire was created that was designed from the beginning (ab initio)
with six conceptual constructs that referred to: concerns, perceptions that children and
adolescents had about how their parents treat them, emotional difficulties, coping strategies,
image body, in the belief of children and adolescents about whether life continues immediately
after the lifting of restrictions due to a pandemic. The statistical package IBM® SPSS®
Statistics Version 21 was used. Principal component analysis as well as multiple linear
regression were performed. A p value < 0.05 was considered as the threshold for statistical
significance, when not specified otherwise.
RESULTS: Almost 60% of the participants were girls. Over 80% of the participating children
and adolescents lived in an urban area of Trikala Prefecture. Half (50%) were aged 12 or over.
Five of the six factors emerged: concerns of children and adolescents immediately after the
lifting of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic with Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α) =
0.79, perceptions of children and adolescents, with Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α) = 0 .68,
emotional difficulties with Coefficient alpha (α) Cronbach= 0.75, coping strategies with
Coefficient alpha (α) Cronbach= 0.70, belief of children and adolescents about whether life
continues immediately after the removal of restrictions due to pandemic with Coefficient alpha
(α) Cronbach= 0.60. The statistical analysis showed that children and adolescents worry
statistically significantly (p= 0.008) more about the health of their own people when they are
alone and do not have someone to share their worries with, the greatest desire that children and
teenagers to learn things about COVID-19 is positively affected statistically significantly (p=
0.009) by whether there was someone close to them who got sick from the SARS-CoV-2
pandemic, the children and teenagers who live with them two of their parents consider
statistically significantly more (p= 0.001) that their parents have become less strict with them
immediately after the lifting of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, children and
adolescents who live with both parents consider statistically significantly more (p= 0.013) that
their parents care for them more immediately after the lifting of restrictions due to the COVID19 pandemic, children and adolescents who want to learn more about the COVID-19 pandemic
(p= 0.016) and their parents are less strict with them (p= 0.006) expect their lives to return to a
normality immediately after the obviation of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After
the lifting of restrictions due to pandemic, children and adolescents' belief that together with
friends they will move on in life,is statistically significantly strengthened by whether they are
less emotionally burdened (p= 0.024) and by whether they are more positive about their daily
life (p< 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Emphasis needs to be placed on the systematic education of issues related
to mental health as well as the establishment of advisory support structures for children,
adolescents to promote their general well-being and that of their families.
Keywords:
Children, Adolescents, Pandemic, Mental health, Psychological effects, Stress, Anger, Depression.
