Czech adolescents' remote school and health experiences during the spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.

Kwok Ng,Alina Cosma,Meyran Boniel-Nissim,Karel Svacina,Petr Badura

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101386

Abstract

Schools around the world were closed during the spring 2020 lockdown to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As such, these rapid changes to adolescent daily routines may have had immediate as well as long-term effects on their physical, social, and mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the experiences, health behaviors and perceived change in health behaviors among adolescents in Czechia during the spring 2020 lockdown. Adolescents (n=3,440, 54% girls; Mage=13.5years, SD=1.6) from all regions of Czechia were recruited to complete a self-report survey based on the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, with additional items on household disruptions and socialization during lockdown, as well as items on perceived changes in health behaviors during lockdown. First, we described the self-reported impacts of the spring lockdown by gender and grade. Second, log-linear analyses were used to examine the perceived behavioral changes based on standardized cut-off values reporting for health behaviors and gender. Less than a third, 19% and 32% of the respondents reported economic and psychosocial disruptions to their family life, 79% indicated they had positive opportunities for family interactions or learning new things. Girls and older adolescents reported the worst levels of social and mental well-being. Changes in respondents' perceived health behaviors varied by reported behavior frequencies and gender. These results may be useful to compare with future secular trends, and may serve as input in developing strategies to counter the impact of the spring 2020 or future similar lockdowns on the adolescents' well-being..

Highlights

In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced the spread of COVID-19 was a global pandemic (WHO, 2020)
On the 11th March, shortly after the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Czechia, all schools were closed as part of the national lockdown re strictions (Czech Republic Ministry of Health, 2020)
An updated version of the Perceived Impact of the 2008/09 Economic Crisis Scale (Due et al, 2019) to the context of the spring 2020 lockdown was used including: economic disruptions (2 items: parents losing their jobs; having less money in the house), psychosocial disruptions (2 items: more family dis putes; more parental stress), and opportunities (2 items: learn new things; more time to engage in joint activities with family that they all enjoyed)

Summary

Introduction

In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced the spread of COVID-19 was a global pandemic (WHO, 2020). On the 11th March, shortly after the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Czechia, all schools were closed as part of the national lockdown re strictions (Czech Republic Ministry of Health, 2020). In Czechia, the spring 2020 national lockdown included the closure of restaurants, nonessential shops, gyms, and swimming pools. A few exceptions were allowed such as going outside for exercise or spending time in nature (Czech Republic Ministry of Health, 2020). Despite this national policy, little is known about how this has affected the lives of adolescents in Czechia. Response options were ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘don’t know’ (recoded to “no”)

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