Psychosocial health of school-aged children during the initial COVID-19 safer-at-home school mandates in Florida: a cross-sectional study

  1. Sarah L. McKune
  2. Daniel Acosta
  3. Nick Diaz
  4. Kaitlin Brittain
  5. Diana Joyce- Beaulieu
  6. Anthony T. Maurelli
  7. Eric J. Nelson

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Abstract

Background

Given the emerging literature regarding the impacts of lockdown measures on mental health, this study aims to describe the psychosocial health of school-aged children and adolescents during the COVID-19 Safer-at-Home School mandates.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2020 ( n  = 280) among K-12 students at a research school in North Central Florida. Bivariate analysis and logistic and multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine socio-demographic and knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) predictors of indicators of anxiety-related, depressive, and obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD)-related symptoms. Outcomes (anxiety, OCD, and depressive related symptoms) were measured by indices generated based on reported symptoms associated with each psychosocial outcome.

Results

Loss of household income was associated with increased risk for all three index-based outcomes: depressive symptoms [aOR = 3.130, 95% CI = (1.41–6.97)], anxiety-related symptoms [aOR = 2.531, 95%CI = (1.154–5.551)], and OCD-related symptoms [aOR = 2.90, 95%CI = (1.32–6.36)]. Being female was associated with being at higher risk for depressive symptoms [aOR = 1.72, 95% CI = (1.02–2.93)], anxiety-related symptoms [aOR = 1.75, 95% CI = (1.04–2.97)], and OCD-related symptoms [aOR = 1.764, 95%CI = (1.027–3.028)]. Parental practices protective against COVID-19 were associated with children being at higher risk of depressive symptoms [aOR = 1.55, 95% CI = (1.04–2.31)]. Lower school level was associated with children being at higher risk of anxiety-related and OCD-related symptoms.

Conclusions

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, schools should prioritize mental health interventions that target younger, female students, and children of families with income loss. Limiting the spread of COVID-19 through school closure may exacerbate negative psychosocial health outcomes in children, thus school administrators should move quickly to target those at greatest risk.

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  1. Version published to 10.1186/s12889-021-10540-2
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.11.20.20235812: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: Those who were interested were able to consent/assent to participation online via a HIPAA compliant interface connected to RedCap (Vanderbilt University).
    IRB: The study was approved by the University of Florida Institutional Review Board, protocol IRB202001345 Variables and statistical analyses: The demographics section of the survey included questions about child’s age, sex, race, ethnicity, and the loss of household income.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Those who were interested were able to consent/assent to participation online via a HIPAA compliant interface connected to RedCap (Vanderbilt University).
    RedCap
    suggested: (REDCap, RRID:SCR_003445)
    Survey data were collected in RedCap and analyzed in R Software (version 4.0.0) and SPSS (version 26).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.11.20.20235812v1 on medRxiv