TY - JOUR
T1 - Impacts on children and adolescents’ lifestyle, social support and their association with negative impacts of the covid‐19 pandemic
AU - Zhu, Shimin
AU - Zhuang, Yanqiong
AU - Ip, Patrick
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by a fund awarded to Shimin Zhu by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council (Ref: 25605418).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/4/29
Y1 - 2021/4/29
N2 - The impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on physical and mental health‐related behaviors among children and adolescents are likely to be profound and long‐lasting. This study aimed to investigate the changes in lifestyle and social support and their associations with negative impacts due to the pandemic. A classroom survey using stratified random sampling and structured questionnaire was conducted among Hong Kong primary and secondary school students. The paper‐and‐pen survey, administered by well‐trained research assistants, was completed by 2863 participants aged 9–17 years old (M = 12.6, SD = 1.3) at a brief school reopening six months after the outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic. About 48% and 37% of the participants stated that they paid increased attention to physical and mental health, respectively. About 20% to 40% stated that they found more support from their friends and family members; only a small percentage reported decreased social support. Around 25% to 50% spent more time to rest, relax, and exercise. The aforementioned changes varied among genders, education groups, and socio‐economic status. In general, higher perceived vulnerability, feeling more stressed, apprehensive, and helpless were associated with more reported positive lifestyle changes, including more social/family support, increased mental health awareness, and a positive lifestyle. These positive changes serve as important cushions against the negative impacts of COVID‐19.
AB - The impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on physical and mental health‐related behaviors among children and adolescents are likely to be profound and long‐lasting. This study aimed to investigate the changes in lifestyle and social support and their associations with negative impacts due to the pandemic. A classroom survey using stratified random sampling and structured questionnaire was conducted among Hong Kong primary and secondary school students. The paper‐and‐pen survey, administered by well‐trained research assistants, was completed by 2863 participants aged 9–17 years old (M = 12.6, SD = 1.3) at a brief school reopening six months after the outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic. About 48% and 37% of the participants stated that they paid increased attention to physical and mental health, respectively. About 20% to 40% stated that they found more support from their friends and family members; only a small percentage reported decreased social support. Around 25% to 50% spent more time to rest, relax, and exercise. The aforementioned changes varied among genders, education groups, and socio‐economic status. In general, higher perceived vulnerability, feeling more stressed, apprehensive, and helpless were associated with more reported positive lifestyle changes, including more social/family support, increased mental health awareness, and a positive lifestyle. These positive changes serve as important cushions against the negative impacts of COVID‐19.
KW - Children and adolescents
KW - COVID‐19
KW - Lifestyle
KW - Mental health
KW - School closure
KW - Social support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105464833&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph18094780
DO - 10.3390/ijerph18094780
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 33947146
AN - SCOPUS:85105464833
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 18
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 9
M1 - 4780
ER -
