TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - How did the CoViD-19 lockdown affect children and adolescent's well-being: Spanish parents, children, and adolescents respond
JO  - Frontiers in public health
A1  - Bassat, Quique
A1  - García-García, Juan José
A1  - Nafria, Begonya
A1  - Via, Esther
A1  - Crosas-Soler, Aina
A1  - Balanza, Núria
A1  - Baro, Bàrbara
A1  - Garrido-Aguirre, Jon
A1  - Ajanovic, Sara
A1  - Perera-Lluna, Alexandre
A1  - Fonollosa, Jordi
A1  - Arias, Sara
A1  - Millat-Martínez, Pere
A1  - Varo, Rosauro
A1  - Bonet-Carne, Elisenda
A1  - Muñoz-Almagro, Carmen
A1  - Jordan, Iolanda
SP  - e746052
EP  - e746052
VL  - 9
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown strategies have been widely used to contain SARS-CoV-2 virus spread. Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to suffering psychological effects as result of such measures. In Spain, children were enforced to a strict home lockdown for 42 days during the first wave. Here, we studied the effects of lockdown in children and adolescents through an online questionnaire. <br><br>METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Spain using an open online survey from July (after the lockdown resulting from the first pandemic wave) to November 2020 (second wave). We included families with children under 16 years-old living in Spain. Parents answered a survey regarding the lockdown effects on their children and were instructed to invite their children from 7 to 16 years-old (mandatory scholar age in Spain) to respond a specific set of questions. Answers were collected through an application programming interface system, and data analysis was performed using R. <br><br>RESULTS: We included 1,957 families who completed the questionnaires, covering a total of 3,347 children. The specific children's questionnaire was completed by 167 kids (7-11 years-old), and 100 adolescents (12-16 years-old). Children, in general, showed high resilience and capability to adapt to new situations. Sleeping problems were reported in more than half of the children (54%) and adolescents (59%), and these were strongly associated with less time doing sports and spending more than 5 h per day using electronic devices. Parents perceived their children to gain weight (41%), be more irritable and anxious (63%) and sadder (46%). Parents and children differed significantly when evaluating children's sleeping disturbances. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Enforced lockdown measures and isolation can have a negative impact on children and adolescent's mental health and well-being. In future waves of the current pandemic, or in the light of potential epidemics of new emerging infections, lockdown measures targeting children, and adolescents should be reconsidered taking into account their infectiousness potential and their age-specific needs, especially to facilitate physical activity and to limit time spent on electronic devices.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2296-2565
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.746052
ID  - ref1
ER  -