Traumatic Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Middle School Students and Caregivers

Abstract

Objective To investigate the traumatic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on middle-school students and their parents. Methods This epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted with middle-school students in Denizli. A questionnaire consisting of the IES-R, CRIES-13 and a sociodemographic data form was delivered online. A total of 1059 participants who fully completed the questionnaire were included for analysis. Results The IES-R total and subdimension scores and the CRIES-13 scores were found to be significantly higher in families with an income level of ≤2,500 TL. The CRIES-13 scores of children were found to be significantly higher in divorced families. No statistically significant difference was determined between the IES-R total and subdimension scores of the parents who were healthcare workers and the CRIES-13 scale scores of their children. Conclusion A statistically significant, positive, moderate relationship was found between the IES-R scale total and subdimension scores of parents and the CRIES-13 scale scores of children. A low socioeconomic level was seen to increase the prevalence of anxiety in adults and adolescents. The children of divorced families were found to be at higher risk of PTSD. Successful management of mental health symptoms in parents will reflect positively on the mental health status of their children.

Psychological stress experienced by parents and posttraumatic emotional stress experienced by children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…Stress could negatively affect how parents approach their children (Silliman Cohen & Bosk, 2020). In the literature, similar to the results of our study, it was reported that parental stress had negative effects on the mental state of children (Chung et al, 2022; Terzioğlu & Büber, 2021). Parents under stress have trouble understanding and responding to their children’s needs sensitively.…”

“…In a study conducted in Spain, it was revealed that more parenting stress was experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and this stress led to child mental health problems (Çimke, Gürkan, & Yorulmaz, 2021; Romero et al, 2020). In their study, Terzioğlu and Büber (2021) reported that the increase in the psychological trauma experienced by parents during the pandemic increased the trauma of their children. In a study conducted with 1,771 adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was stated that 28.3%–30.8% of adolescents had symptoms of anxiety and depression (Ren et al, 2021).…”

Parents' perceived stress and children's adjustment during the COVID‐19 lockdown in Italy: The mediating role of family resilience

“…Likewise, being a single parent during the COVID‐19 lockdown increased the prevalence of high psychological distress among caregivers, especially mothers (Marchetti et al, 2020), due to the lack of parental support from a partner (Mikolajczak et al, 2018). Correspondingly, during the pandemic, children of divorced families were at higher risk of developing psychological impairments (Terzioğlu & Büber, 2021). Indeed, highly distressed mothers might have been too overwhelmed by the situation to be available and responsive to their children's needs and to find appropriate ways to be supportive for them; this might have increased the likelihood that their children developed negative outcomes.…”

COVID-19 and Its Association with Psychological Health of Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

“…In the review, almost half of the papers described the factors associated with mental health status due to COVID-19 pandemic. The major factors that have tendency to increase anxiety and depression were found to be restriction on movement, social distancing, school closures, low interaction with peers, educational status, smartphone and internet addiction, increased use of digital screens, continuous watching, listening, or reading news related to COVID 19, urban residency, family members or friends infected with coronavirus, being children of frontline health workers, level of anxiety, fearphysical injury fear, fear of separation, employment status, type of occupation, female gender, low social support, exposure to COVID-19 (Cohodes et al, 2021;Qi et al, 2020;Terzioğlu & Büber, 2021).…”