Students’ attitude and sleep pattern during school closure following COVID-19 pandemic quarantine: a web-based survey in south of Iran

Abstract

Background School closure is one of the main policies of global health care strategies performed worldwide. Despite all benefits, there might be some threats for younger groups spending their time in quarantine. This study aims to determine the impacts of lockdown and school closure on children’s major lifestyle aspects, especially their leisure and sleep pattern during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods For the purpose of this study, an online questionnaire was distributed from 14th to 31st of March 2020 among the schools and students from the first grade to the 12th grade (before university) in Fars province, southern Iran. The questionnaire consisted of five sections which included data regarding the students’ general information, activity priorities, adherence to quarantine, attitude toward school closure, and sleep patterns. Results In our study, 20,697 filled questionnaires were received from the participants with an average age of 13.76 years; 29.7% of them were male, 80.6% were from urban areas, and 83.3% were from public schools. The overall first preference of students during school closure was mobile and computer games (30.1%), followed by studying (26.6%) and watching television (13.8%). Our results demonstrated that the majority of students adhered to social distancing and there was also a significant correlation among education levels and desire for schools to be closed till the end of the semester (P = 0.015). Also, regarding sleep patterns, the majority (53.5%) had above 12 h of sleep throughout the day. Conclusion It seems that lockdown following COVID-19 pandemic has changed various aspects of the students’ lifestyle remarkably, especially by increasing screen time and even sleep duration and pattern. We believe that certain strategies should be implemented by the Health and Educational Ministry to control not only the visible side effects of the quarantine period, but also the collateral consequences on their psychological and mental health.

Will Nothing Be the Same Again?: Changes in Lifestyle during COVID-19 Pandemic and Consequences on Mental Health

“…A better understanding of students' behavioral and socializing changes during COVID-19 lockdown results in being pivotal to programing critical and effective strategies for managing children's mental health. Sleep and eating patterns, screen time, physical activity, and leisure seem to represent the most significant variables, influencing the many consequences of school closure and lockdown [39].…”

Social and environmental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children

“…The study by Ranjbar et al 35 had a sample of 20,697 children with a mean age of 13.7 years, of which the majority (69.3%) was female, living in urban areas and attending public schools. Increased total sleep duration and screen use were observed.…”

Self-Regulation of Motivation and Confinement by COVID-19: A Study in Spanish University Students

“…Another effect of confinement among students from different parts of the world, who were also affected by restrictions on freedom of movement, was a worsening of sleep [7][8][9]. Among the most common problems were that people went to sleep later, woke up later, and also spent more time in bed [7], which did not always translate into more sleep, especially because of the reversal of daytime and night-time activities [8].…”

“…Among the most common problems were that people went to sleep later, woke up later, and also spent more time in bed [7], which did not always translate into more sleep, especially because of the reversal of daytime and night-time activities [8]. Despite this, a proportion of people reported sleeping more hours than before confinement [9], which did not result in better sleep quality. In fact, there is considerable consensus that sleep quality was reduced during confinement [10][11][12].…”