Occurrence of depressive symptoms related to changes in quality of life in students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health is one of the relevant parameters to assess the quality of life. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, children make up one of the most fragile groups to mental health due to social isolation. Childhood mental disorders are a public health problem because of their impact on children's lives and the community. Objectives: To trace the occurrence of depressive symptoms in schoolchildren during the social isolation period to contain the viral spread and assess possible risk factors for these symptoms' emergence. Method: This study is a cross-sectional with 102 children aged 7 to 10 years who attended Elementary School I in a Municipal School in Belo Horizonte - MG. It was realized during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Two questionnaires were applied, Socioeconomic Questionnaire to describe the sample profile and to evaluate possible risk factors related to depressive symptoms, and the Childhood Depression Inventory (CDI) tassesses depressive symptoms in children. Results: 2.9% of the children presented depressive symptoms. The profile was girls with unmarried parents, absence of father and mother as joint caregivers of the child, poor coexistence between close family members, the occurrence of family unemployment, and interference in lifestyle habits during the pandemic. However, these variables did not obtain a statistically significant association with probable depression. However, symptoms such as crying frequency, boredom, loneliness, and not feeling loved were significantly associated with potential depression. Conclusion: The rate of depression among students aged 7 to 10 years in a Municipal School was 2.9% during the pandemic. There was no association between sociodemographic characteristics and the presence or absence of symptoms of depression. There was a significant association between worsening symptoms such as crying, boredom, loneliness, and not feeling loved and the presence of depressive symptoms.