Department of Psychiatry, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Institute of Future Convergence, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
J Korean Med Sci. 2022 Jul 18;37(28):e225. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e225.
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has continued for a couple of years, the long-term effects of the pandemic and the subsequent school curriculum modification on the mental health of children and parents need to be investigated. To clarify the changes that can occur during one school year and to predict the risk factors for vulnerable groups, this study identified parameters relative to children's screen time, their problematic behavior, and parental depression.
A total of 186 participants were analyzed who were parents of elementary schoolchildren in South Korea. These parents were required to complete a web-based questionnaire twice. The questionnaires were conducted in June 2020 and September 2021. Participants' general demographics including family income, children's screen time, sleep patterns, problematic behavior, and parental depression were assessed via the parental questionnaire that included various measurement tools.
Children's body mass index (BMI) increased significantly in 2021 (18.94 ± 3.75 vs. 18.14 ± 3.30, < 0.001). Smartphone frequency of use per week (5.35 vs. 4.54, < 0.001) and screen time per day (3.52 vs. 3.16, < 0.001) significantly increased during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The television screen time (2.88 vs. 3.26, < 0.001), frequency of viewing (3.77 vs. 4.77, < 0.001), and children's problematic behaviors significantly decreased (9.15 vs. 11.85, < 0.001). A lower income household was a key predictor of increased smartphone frequency (B = 1.840, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.923-2.757, < 0.001) and smartphone screen time (B = 1.992, 95% CI, 1.458-2.525, < 0.001). The results showed that the lower income household (B = 5.624, 95% CI, 2.927-8.320, < 0.001) and a child's psychiatric treatment history (B = 7.579, 95% CI, 5.666-9.492, < 0.001) was the most significant predictor of problematic behaviors of children and parental depression (B = 3.476, 95% CI, 1.628-5.325, < 0.001; B = 3.138, 95% CI, 1.827-4.450, < 0.001).
This study suggested that children's smartphone screen time and BMI increased during COVID-19 because of the school curriculum modification following school closures in South Korea. The increased children's problematic behaviors and parental depression were predicted by lower-income households and the previous psychiatric history of children. These results indicate that multiple social support systems to the vulnerable group are needed during the ongoing pandemic and that a modified school setting is required.
随着新冠肺炎疫情持续了几年，有必要调查大流行及其随后的学校课程修改对儿童和家长心理健康的长期影响。为了阐明在一学年内可能发生的变化，并预测弱势群体的风险因素，本研究确定了与儿童屏幕时间、问题行为和父母抑郁相关的参数。
共分析了 186 名韩国小学生家长，他们被要求在 2020 年 6 月和 2021 年 9 月两次完成在线问卷。通过包括各种测量工具的家长问卷评估参与者的一般人口统计学信息，包括家庭收入、儿童的屏幕时间、睡眠模式、问题行为和父母抑郁。
2021 年儿童的体重指数（BMI）显著增加（18.94 ± 3.75 与 18.14 ± 3.30，<0.001）。每周智能手机使用频率（5.35 与 4.54，<0.001）和每天屏幕时间（3.52 与 3.16，<0.001）在 COVID-19 大流行期间显著增加。电视屏幕时间（2.88 与 3.26，<0.001）、观看频率（3.77 与 4.77，<0.001）和儿童问题行为显著减少（9.15 与 11.85，<0.001）。较低的家庭收入是智能手机使用频率增加的关键预测因素（B=1.840，95%置信区间[CI]：0.923-2.757，<0.001）和智能手机屏幕时间（B=1.992，95%CI：1.458-2.525，<0.001）。结果表明，较低的家庭收入（B=5.624，95%CI：2.927-8.320，<0.001）和儿童的精神科治疗史（B=7.579，95%CI：5.666-9.492，<0.001）是儿童问题行为和父母抑郁的最显著预测因素（B=3.476，95%CI：1.628-5.325，<0.001；B=3.138，95%CI：1.827-4.450，<0.001）。
本研究表明，由于韩国学校停课导致学校课程修改，儿童的智能手机屏幕时间和 BMI 在 COVID-19 期间增加。低收入家庭和儿童以前的精神科病史预测了儿童问题行为和父母抑郁的增加。这些结果表明，在当前大流行期间需要向弱势群体提供多种社会支持系统，并需要对学校设置进行修改。
