Sedentary Behavior among 6–14-Year-Old Children during the COVID-19 Lockdown and Its Relation to Physical and Mental Health

Abstract

As a result of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and consequent restrictions in spring 2020, children in many countries might be engaged in more sedentary behavior and have limited possibilities to access the necessary level of physical activity to maintain their physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between child sedentary behavior, physical activity, mental and physical health, and parental distress in a sample of Lithuanian children aged 6–14 years during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in March–June 2020. Parents of 306 children (52.9% female) completed an online survey in May–June 2020 and reported on their children’s screen time for educational and recreational (leisure) purposes, the level of physical activity and time outdoors, somatic symptoms, and emotional well-being and behavior. Parents also reported on stressful life events in the family and personal distress. The results revealed that 57.5% of children exceeded the recommended maximum of 2 h of recreational screen time per day, and 33.6% of the children did not meet the recommended guidelines of 60 min of physical activity per day. Longer screen time for educational purposes and parental distress significantly predicted a higher prevalence of somatic symptoms in children and parental distress also served as a significant predictor of children’s decreased emotional well-being and behavior. These results highlight the importance of psychosocial support interventions for parents who experience distress when raising children at a stressful time, such as during a pandemic.

Pre-schoolers’ Behavioural and Emotional Problems During the First Quarantine Due to COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parental Distress and Screen Time

“…Second, this finding adds substantially to the emerging literature showing links between quarantine-related changes in healthrelated behaviors, such as using more screens, and children's mental health problems, that do not take into account baseline problems of children (e.g. Breidokienė et al, 2021). Our results suggest that although longer screen time is related to greater emotional and/ or behavioral problems in children during quarantine, this relation could be explained by the preceding problems and reflect the tendency of parents to use more screens while taking care of children who were more difficult to manage in the first place.…”

“…There are several ways in which this extraordinary situation could have an adverse effect on the mental health of small children. One is related to changes in everyday routines and health-related behaviours, such as an increase in screen time and decrease in time spent being physically active (Bates et al, 2020;Breidokienė et al, 2021;Schmidt et al, 2020). The other concerns a substantial increase in parental distress (Adams et al, 2020) and its relation to greater incidence of children's emotional and behavioural problems during the pandemic (Spinelli et al, 2020).…”

“…The other concerns a substantial increase in parental distress (Adams et al, 2020) and its relation to greater incidence of children's emotional and behavioural problems during the pandemic (Spinelli et al, 2020). Despite the emerging literature showing negative effects of the quarantine on children's emotions and behaviour (Breidokienė et al, 2021;Jiao et al, 2020;Pisano et al, 2020), insight into potential risk and protective factors for child mental health during quarantine due COVID-19 pandemic is still lacking due to limited longitudinal data.…”

The Predictors of Psychological Well-Being in Lithuanian Adolescents after the Second Prolonged Lockdown Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Similarly, recreational screen time and overall sedentary behavior had significantly increased during the lockdown due to COVID-19 [ 13 , 23 , 25 ], and it was associated with more psychosomatic complaints, more depressive symptoms, and lower life satisfaction both in pandemic [ 13 , 26 ] and pre-pandemic [ 17 ].…”

“…Moreover, it worked as an important factor mediating the limitations of social support and lack of social interactions with peers [ 12 ]. On the other hand, increased conflict with parents and parental distress predicted more emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents [ 3 , 25 , 27 ]. For children living in vulnerable environments, schools can act as a “protective layer” by providing mental health support and alternative social experience [ 7 , 28 ].…”