Xue Yuan, Xu Qingqing, Wang Juan, Lin Hualiang, Wang Chongjian, Lou Xiaomin, Wu Cuiping, Mao Zhenxing, Fu Xiaoli
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 14;19(6):3406. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063406.
We aimed to assess the prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms and its associated factors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among primary students in China. We included 386,924 students aged 6-12 years from three cities in Henan province, China, over the period 21-27 May 2021. The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms was 5.8%. Participants with high depressive symptoms were more likely to be senior urban primary students, and exhibited an insignificant increase in hand washing frequency, non-mask wearing behavior, higher error rates of cognition tests, and greater levels of worry and fear. The associated factors for high depressive symptoms were found to include age, sex, grade, location, worry level, fear level, cognitive status, and change in lifestyle after gaining knowledge about COVID-19. Our results suggest that governments need to focus on factors affecting the mental health of school-age children while combating COVID-19, as it would facilitate better decision making on the international and national level.
我们旨在评估2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间中国小学生抑郁症状升高的患病率及其相关因素。我们纳入了2021年5月21日至27日期间来自中国河南省三个城市的386,924名6至12岁的学生。抑郁症状的总体患病率为5.8%。抑郁症状严重的参与者更有可能是城市高年级小学生，并且洗手频率、不戴口罩行为、认知测试错误率有不显著的增加，以及担忧和恐惧程度更高。发现抑郁症状严重的相关因素包括年龄、性别、年级、地点、担忧程度、恐惧程度、认知状态以及在了解COVID-19后生活方式的变化。我们的结果表明，政府在抗击COVID-19的同时需要关注影响学龄儿童心理健康的因素，因为这将有助于在国际和国家层面做出更好的决策。
