Impact of School Closure Due to COVID-19 on the Social-Emotional Skills of Japanese Pre-school Children.

Satomi Doi,Aya Isumi,Takeo Fujiwara,Keitaro Miyamura

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.739985

Abstract

Objective: This study examines the impact on the social-emotional skills of Japanese pre-school children from downsizing of school activities in conjunction with voluntary school closures due to the first wave of COVID-19, in 2020.Methods: Participants included 32 children aged 4–5 years old from three pre-schools in Tokyo, Japan, where strict lockdown was not implemented and voluntary school closure was recommended. Child social-emotional skills was assessed by classroom teachers using Devereux Student Strengths Assessment mini (DESSA-mini) three times: November 2019, January 2020 (before the COVID-19), and March 2020 (during the first COVID-19 wave). All pre-schools implemented voluntary school closures from March 2nd, and two schools (school A and B) canceled school recitals, while one school (school C) allowed for it to be held on March 4th, with precautions in place to prevent the spread of infection. Repeated measures ANOVA were performed to examine the difference between the T scores of the DESSA-mini three pre-schools before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: In school C, children showed stable T scores of the DESSA-mini, whereas children in school A and B showed lower T scores of the DESSA-mini during COVID-19 than before it started. The interaction effects between time and pre-schools were found (F = 7.05, p < 0.001).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that school recitals in pre-schools were important to maintaining children's social-emotional skills during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

The first outbreak of the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID19) impacted pre-school children in many countries in various ways, including school closures and the downsizing of activities such as school recitals to prevent the spread of infection [1]
According to the main effect of time (Model 1), the mean T score of the DESSA-mini at November 2019 (Time 1) was lower than in January 2020 (Time 2)
This study found that social-emotional skills in pre-school children increased from November 2019 to January 2020, which was before the first wave of COVID-19 in Japan, and in March 2020, during COVID-19

Summary

Introduction

The first outbreak of the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID19) impacted pre-school children in many countries in various ways, including school closures and the downsizing of activities such as school recitals to prevent the spread of infection [1]. A growing number of studies have examined the short and longterm impacts of school closure on mental health of pre-school children and their caregivers. Japan is a unique country, in that a severe lockdown was not implemented, and pre-school closure was only recommended by the government, not mandatory. Almost all pre-schools in Tokyo, Japan conduct a school recital (e.g., dancing, singing, and drama activities) as school activities, which is held once per year [9]. The school recital in Japanese preschool has an important role for children and caregivers, which is a major event for teachers

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion