Child self-report and child-parent agreement regarding health-related quality of life under COVID-19 lockdown in the French Grand Est area

Abstract

Purpose: Billions of children worldwide were sent under lockdown due to the coronavirus disease. This study aimed to investigate child-reported and parent-rated health-related quality of life among 8- to 18-year-olds and the agreement between the children’s assessments and those of their parents during lockdown.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among French children living in the Grand Est area. An online survey was used to collect data on the children’s sociodemographics, living environments, education and HRQoL. The latter was assessed with KIDSCREEN-27, which consists of five domains. Sex and age differences in parent ratings and child-reported data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Child-parent agreement was analyzed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).Results: In total, 471 child-parent pairs from 341 households were included. Compared to European norms, children scored lower on all dimensions during the first lockdown: physical well-being (45.9/49.94 EU), psychological well-being (48.8/49.77 EU), parent relations and autonomy (47.7/49.99 EU), social support and peers (36.4/49.94) and school (48.2/50). Significant child-reported sex and age differences were identified for both psychological and physical well-being dimensions. Moderate to good agreement existed between children’s and parents’ ratings on all KIDSCREEN dimensions (ICC ranged from 0.60 to 0.76).Conclusion: The study suggests the need to focus on children’s social support and peers during epidemics and to consider the children’s self-reported HRQoL. Additional research should be conducted to identify ways of minimizing the gap between mental health needs and the services available and to help more children maintain their physical and mental health during the current crisis.

Labor market participation and depression during the COVID-19 epidemic among young adults (18 to 30 years): a nationally representative study in France

“…First of all, students are vulnerable because of high levels of financial difficulties as well social isolation, which increased during the course of the epidemic (21,22). Additionally, there is evidence that students have experienced specific issues during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as worries related to their studies, difficulties finding motivation to study, missed learning opportunities (23) as well as increased conflicts with others and limited ability to study (24), which could fuel fears about their future and negative mood. There is suggestion that distance learning is especially complex for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and negatively contributes to their stress levels (25).…”