Faculty of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223 Madrid, Spain.
Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 10;18(24):13063. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182413063.
(1) Background: The psychological effects of confinement due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic on children are only partially known. In Madrid, Spain, children suffered a strict confinement for 10 weeks and they returned to school under conditions that were far from normal. This work assesses the effects of the pandemic on the anxiety levels of a group of children living in Madrid. (2) Methods: Children were aged 6 to 11 years (N = 215). A self-report measure of anxiety was completed by participants at two time-points: (1) a few months before the beginning of the pandemic and (2) 1 year later. A smaller subgroup of participants also completed the measure during the confinement period ( = 60). (3) Results: A comparison of these three measures shows that the children's anxiety was reduced during confinement, and that one year later these levels continue below those registered before the start of the pandemic. (4) Conclusions: These results contradict some previous studies, which found an increase in children's anxiety as a result of confinement and the pandemic. The discussion considers protective and vulnerability factors in the context of the pandemic, which may affect children's levels of anxiety.
(1) 背景：由于 SARS-CoV-2 病毒大流行而导致的禁闭对儿童的心理影响尚不完全清楚。在西班牙马德里，儿童被严格禁闭了 10 周，然后在远非正常的条件下返回学校。这项工作评估了大流行对马德里一群儿童焦虑水平的影响。
(2) 方法：参与者的年龄为 6 至 11 岁（N=215）。参与者在两个时间点完成了一份焦虑自评量表：（1）大流行开始前几个月，以及（2）1 年后。一小部分参与者也在禁闭期间完成了该量表（n=60）。
(3) 结果：这三个量表的比较表明，儿童的焦虑在禁闭期间有所减轻，一年后，这些水平仍低于大流行前登记的水平。
(4) 结论：这些结果与一些先前的研究相矛盾，这些研究发现，由于禁闭和大流行，儿童的焦虑增加。讨论考虑了大流行背景下的保护和脆弱因素，这些因素可能会影响儿童的焦虑水平。
