Pybus Katie, Kelly Brian, Hou Bo, Ajebon Mildred, McIvor Claire, Bingham Daniel, McEachan Rosemary, Pickett Kate E, Dickerson Josie
Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK, York, UK.
Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Hospitals National Health Service Trust, Bradford, UK.
Wellcome Open Res. 2022 May 30;7:64. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17642.2. eCollection 2022.
Concerns have been raised about the potential impact of COVID-19 and associated lockdown measures on child mental wellbeing, but emerging evidence suggests mixed results and there is a dearth of information from ethnically diverse samples. The current study aims to explore the impact of the pandemic on wellbeing using longitudinal data collected from the multi-ethnic Born in Bradford family cohort study. Within-child changes in wellbeing were explored using data collected pre-pandemic and again during the first UK lockdown for 500 children aged 7-13 from a range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, using self-reported feelings of happiness and sadness. Associations between changes in wellbeing, demographic factors, quality of social relationships and physical activity levels were explored using multinomial logistic regression models. In this sample, 55% of children reported no change in their wellbeing from pre-pandemic to during the first lockdown (n=264). Children of Pakistani heritage were more than twice as likely to report feeling sad less often than White British children (RRR: 2.61, 95% CI: 1.23, 5.51) during the first lockdown. Those who reported being left out by other children before the pandemic were over three times as likely than those who did not (RRR: 3.72: 1.51, 9.20) to report feeling sad less often during the pandemic. Around a third of children reported feeling happier (n=152, 31.6%), but these changes did not relate to any of the explanatory variables included in this analysis. Many children in this study reported no changes in their wellbeing during the first UK lockdown compared to before the pandemic and some described improved wellbeing. These findings suggest that children have coped well with the significant changes over the past year, though targeted support, particularly for those children who felt excluded before the pandemic, would be beneficial.
人们对新冠疫情及相关封锁措施对儿童心理健康的潜在影响表示担忧，但新出现的证据显示结果不一，而且来自不同种族样本的信息匮乏。当前的研究旨在利用从多民族的布拉德福德出生队列家庭研究中收集的纵向数据，探讨疫情对幸福感的影响。研究使用自我报告的快乐和悲伤情绪，对500名7至13岁、来自不同种族和社会经济背景的儿童在疫情前以及英国首次封锁期间收集的数据进行分析，以探究儿童幸福感的变化。使用多项逻辑回归模型探讨幸福感变化、人口因素、社会关系质量和身体活动水平之间的关联。在这个样本中，55%的儿童报告称从疫情前到首次封锁期间幸福感没有变化（n = 264）。在首次封锁期间，有巴基斯坦血统的儿童报告悲伤情绪出现频率低于英国白人儿童的可能性是其两倍多（相对风险比：2.61，95%置信区间：1.23，5.51）。那些在疫情前报告被其他孩子冷落的儿童，在疫情期间报告悲伤情绪出现频率较低的可能性是未被冷落儿童的三倍多（相对风险比：3.72：1.51，9.20）。约三分之一的儿童报告感觉更快乐（n = 152，31.6%），但这些变化与本分析中纳入的任何解释变量均无关联。与疫情前相比，本研究中的许多儿童报告在英国首次封锁期间幸福感没有变化，一些儿童表示幸福感有所改善。这些发现表明，儿童在过去一年中很好地应对了重大变化，不过提供有针对性的支持，特别是对那些在疫情前感到被排斥的儿童，将大有裨益。
