Daily Life Changes and Life Satisfaction among Korean School-Aged Children in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has been disrupting the daily lives of people across the world, causing a major concern for psychological well-being in children. This study aimed to examine (1) how life satisfaction and its potential predictors have been affected by the pandemic among school-aged children in Korea, and (2) which factors would predict their life satisfaction during the pandemic. We surveyed 166 fourth-graders in the Seoul metropolitan area to assess their psychological well-being and potentially related variables during the pandemic. The data were compared with those available from two pre-COVID-19 surveys, the 2018 Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (n = 1236) and the 2019 Korean Children and Youth Well-being Index Survey (n = 334). Higher levels of stress were observed in children during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the level of their life satisfaction remained unchanged when compared with data from the pre-COVID-19 surveys. The pandemic also affected peer relationship quality and susceptibility to smartphone addiction, but not perceived parenting style nor academic engagement. Interestingly, peer relationship quality no longer predicted life satisfaction during the pandemic; perceived parenting styles and parent-child conversation time predicted life satisfaction. The results suggest a central role of parent-child relationship in supporting the psychological well-being of school-aged children during the pandemic.

Gender-Specific Changes in Life Satisfaction After the COVID-19–Related Lockdown in Dutch Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study

“…Life satisfaction during COVID-19erelated lockdown restrictions decreased (stringency index: 78.80), which is in line with two longitudinal studies reporting that life satisfaction of Australian adolescents decreased during the pandemic compared with before (stringency index: 65.74e69.44) [19,20]. It should be noted that the findings could be specific for adolescents, as a decline in life satisfaction was not observed in younger children (aged 8e10 years, stringency index: 50.46e65.74) living in South Korea nor in Chinese youth (aged 6e17 years) (stringency index: 79.17e81.02) [40,41]. In contrast to life satisfaction, there was no change in internalizing symptoms observed in our sample.…”

Smartphone Addiction and Depression among Low-Income Boys since COVID-19: The Moderating Effect of Being an Only Child

“…Smartphone addiction is a common but growing issue among adolescents in South Korea [9], and studies in that country and others have shown that smartphone addiction and/or problematic smartphone use have increased among adolescents and adults since the COVID-19 pandemic [1,2,11,16,17]. South Korean fourth graders were more prone to smartphone addiction before COVID-19 than during [1]. However, problematic smartphone use prevalence was higher among Chinese primary schoolchildren during a COVID-19-related lockdown than before the pandemic [2].…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected children's and adolescents' lives around the world. Compared to before the pandemic, children and adolescents have drastically increased their screentime, including their use of smartphones, and more children and adolescents are considered to be addicted to their smartphone or are engaging in problematic smartphone use than before the pandemic [1,2]. Moreover, children and adolescents are more depressed now than before the pandemic [3,4], and smartphone addiction and problematic smartphone use have been found to be positively associated with depression, although this data includes studies conducted before COVID-19 [5,6].…”

“…With modern adolescents in many countries having access to their own smartphone, it is of interest to examine their use of such devices. Further, since the COVID-19 pandemic and during associated lockdowns, research has found that adolescents' use of smartphones has increased [1,11]. Among South Korean fourth graders, the percentage of children who used a smartphone more than 1 hour per day increased during the pandemic [1].…”

“…Further, since the COVID-19 pandemic and during associated lockdowns, research has found that adolescents' use of smartphones has increased [1,11]. Among South Korean fourth graders, the percentage of children who used a smartphone more than 1 hour per day increased during the pandemic [1]. Additionally, among Italian youth aged 6-18 years, the percentage of youth who reported using a smartphone for more than 4 hours a day increased by 50% (from 16.3% to 66.3%) during the pandemic [11].…”