IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i16p10103-d889098.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychosocial Wellbeing of Schoolchildren during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Berlin, Germany, June 2020 to March 2021

Author

Listed:
  • Stefanie Theuring

    (Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Welmoed van Loon

    (Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Franziska Hommes

    (Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Norma Bethke

    (Medical Directorate, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany)

  • Marcus A. Mall

    (Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Tobias Kurth

    (Institute of Public Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany)

  • Joachim Seybold

    (Medical Directorate, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany)

  • Frank P. Mockenhaupt

    (Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions have affected the wellbeing of schoolchildren worldwide, but the extent and duration of specific problems are still not completely understood. We aimed to describe students’ psychosocial and behavioral parameters and associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Berlin, Germany. Our longitudinal study included 384 students from 24 randomly selected Berlin primary and secondary schools, assessing psychosocial wellbeing at four time points between June 2020 and March 2021. We analyzed temporal changes in the proportions of anxiety, fear of infection, reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL), physical activity and social contacts, as well as sociodemographic and economic factors associated with anxiety, fear of infection and HRQoL. During the observation period, the presence of anxiety symptoms increased from 26.2% (96/367) to 34.6% (62/179), and fear of infection from 28.6% (108/377) to 40.6% (73/180). The proportion of children with limited social contacts (<1/week) increased from 16.4% (61/373) to 23.5% (42/179). Low physical activity (<3 times sports/week) was consistent over time. Low HRQoL was observed among 44% (77/174) of children. Factors associated with anxiety were female sex, increasing age, secondary school attendance, lower household income, and the presence of adults with anxiety symptoms in the student´s household. Fear of infection and low HRQoL were associated with anxiety. A substantial proportion of schoolchildren experienced unfavorable psychosocial conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/2021. Students from households with limited social and financial resilience require special attention.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefanie Theuring & Welmoed van Loon & Franziska Hommes & Norma Bethke & Marcus A. Mall & Tobias Kurth & Joachim Seybold & Frank P. Mockenhaupt, 2022. "Psychosocial Wellbeing of Schoolchildren during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Berlin, Germany, June 2020 to March 2021," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-11, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:10103-:d:889098
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10103/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10103/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Franziska Reiss & Ann-Katrin Meyrose & Christiane Otto & Thomas Lampert & Fionna Klasen & Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer, 2019. "Socioeconomic status, stressful life situations and mental health problems in children and adolescents: Results of the German BELLA cohort-study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-16, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Md Irteja Islam & Gail M Ormsby & Enamul Kabir & Rasheda Khanam, 2021. "Estimating income-related and area-based inequalities in mental health among nationally representative adolescents in Australia: The concentration index approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Jiang, Shan, 2020. "Psychological well-being and distress in adolescents: An investigation into associations with poverty, peer victimization, and self-esteem," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    3. Dar, Aehsan Ahmad & Deb, Sibnath, 2020. "Psychological distress among young adults exposed to armed conflict in Kashmir," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Eijgermans, D.G.M. & Jansen, P.W. & Shuker, A.M. & Heydelberg, J.F.P. & Raat, H. & Jansen, W., 2023. "Sociodemographic and mental health characteristics of children who use mental health care for specific reasons," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Jose Marquez & Louise Lambert & Megan Cutts, 2023. "Geographic, Socio-Demographic and School Type Variation in Adolescent Wellbeing and Mental Health and Links with Academic Competence in the United Arab Emirates," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(2), pages 797-836, April.
    6. Soomin Ryu & Lu Fan, 2023. "The Relationship Between Financial Worries and Psychological Distress Among U.S. Adults," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 16-33, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:10103-:d:889098. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.