The Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Italian School-Aged Children: Sleep-Related Difficulties and Trauma Reactions

Abstract

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental and physical health of the world population. This study aims to investigate incidence of sleep-related difficulties and post-traumatic stress disorder in the school-aged children after 1 year of the pandemic. Methods A sample of Italian children (6-12 years) was queried about their sleep behaviors after 1 year of the pandemic, answering the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). We also evaluated trauma symptoms with the Children's Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8). Results Among 205 participants, 184 (89.8%) presented sleep-related difficulties. Out of all, 99 (48.3%) had a high risk to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Ninety-five (51.6%) children with sleep-related difficulties also presented an abnormal CRIES-8 total score. A correlation was found between the CSHQ total score and the CRIES-8 total score ( r = 0.354, P < .01). Conclusions The sleep-related difficulties occurring during COVID-19 outbreak may compound to increase the risk to develop post-traumatic stress disorder among Italian children.

Parental Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Friend or Foe? A Moderation Analysis of the Association between Maternal Anxiety and Children’s Stress in Italian Dyads

“…Children's stress was assessed with the Italian version of the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) [40], which has been widely adopted by previously published research [25,41,42] to test Italian schoolchildren. As intended by the questionnaire, children were asked to think about how they felt during the preceding week (therefore, in the middle of the first full lockdown in Italy), and to answer 13 questions (e.g., "Do you try not to think about it?…”

Assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic Associated Sleep Abnormalities in Children: Authors’ Reply

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We thank Bhambhani and Aggarwal 1 for the attention paid to our recent article about the COVID-19 pandemic effects on school-aged children's sleep-related difficulties and trauma reactions. 2 The authors commented on our paper trying to speculate on possible reasons for the high percentage of children with probable sleep disturbances.They assert that the Child's Sleep Habits Questionnaire, validated for patients between 6 and 12 years old, 3 should be performed with parental assistance; in our paper, 31.2% of children did not require assistance from parents for compilation. The observation is correct, and this could be a bias that overestimated the rate of sleep disorders in this age group.

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“…We thank Bhambhani and Aggarwal 1 for the attention paid to our recent article about the COVID-19 pandemic effects on school-aged children's sleep-related difficulties and trauma reactions. 2 The authors commented on our paper trying to speculate on possible reasons for the high percentage of children with probable sleep disturbances.…”

“…We thank Bhambhani and Aggarwal 1 for the attention paid to our recent article about the COVID-19 pandemic effects on school-aged children’s sleep-related difficulties and trauma reactions. 2…”

Assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic Associated Sleep Abnormalities in Children

“…We read with great interest the recent paper by Curatola et al 1 describing the COVID-19 pandemic–associated sleep difficulties and trauma reactions in more than 200 Italian children aged 6-12 years. The authors provide a glimpse of the sleep behaviors of children after 1 year of containment measures through this online survey study.…”