Associations Between Movement Behaviors and Emotional Changes in Toddlers and Preschoolers During Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile

  1. Nicolas Aguilar-Farias
  2. Marcelo Toledo-Vargas
  3. Sebastian Miranda-Marquez
  4. Andrea Cortinez-O'Ryan
  5. Pia Martino-Fuentealba
  6. Carlos Cristi-Montero
  7. Fernando Rodriguez-Rodriguez
  8. Paula Guarda-Saavedra
  9. Borja Del Pozo Cruz
  10. Anthony D. Okely

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Abstract

Background: There is limited evidence about emotional and behavioral responses in toddlers and preschoolers during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly in Latin America.

Objective: To assess associations between changes in movement behaviors (physical activity, screen time and sleeping) and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers during early stages of the pandemic in Chile.

Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted from March 30th to April 27th, 2020. Main caregivers of 1- to 5-year-old children living in Chile answered an online survey that included questions about sociodemographic characteristics, changes in the child's emotions and behaviors, movement behaviors and caregivers' stress during the pandemic. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess the association between different factors and emotional changes in toddlers and preschoolers.

Results: In total, 1727 caregivers provided complete data on emotional changes for children aged 2.9 ± 1.36 years old, 47.9% girls. A large proportion of toddlers and preschoolers in Chile experienced emotional and behavioral changes. Most caregivers reported that children “were more affectionate” (78.9%), “more restless” (65.1%), and ‘more frustrated' (54.1%) compared with pre-pandemic times. Apart from changes in movement behaviors, factors such as child age, caregivers' age and stress, and residential area (urban/rural) were consistently associated with changes in emotions and behaviors.

Conclusion: The pandemic substantially affected the emotions and behaviors of toddlers and preschoolers in Chile. The findings suggest that supportive actions for caregivers may have a positive impact not only on adults but also on children. Mental health promotion programs should consider multilevel approaches in which the promotion of movement behaviors and support for caregivers should be essential pieces for future responses.

Article activity feed

  1. Version published to 10.3389/fped.2021.667362
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.02.09.21251387: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: All participants gave their online informed consent to participate in the study.
    IRB: The study was approved by the Scientific Ethics Committee at Universidad de La Frontera, Chile (ORD.: 009-2020).
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Data were collected and managed using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) hosted at the Universidad de La Frontera (34).
    REDCap
    suggested: (REDCap, RRID:SCR_003445)
    All data were analyzed using Stata 15.1 (StataCorp LLC, USA).
    StataCorp
    suggested: (Stata, RRID:SCR_012763)

    Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your data.

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Strengths and limitations: Our study has explored the emotional and behavioral changes in toddlers and preschoolers using a socioecological perspective, including the main caregiver’s distress (most of them women). This is critical in a pandemic context in which supporting networks (educational community, childcare services, families, friends, etc.) are limited and caring responsibilities rely on fewer individuals. Although this was a cross-sectional study, under the circumstances of a natural experiment, we have provided evidence on a topic that is not frequently explored in the area of movement behaviors, which is mainly focused on physical health (60). However, there are limitations in our study. The cross-sectional design of the study limits causality. Also, the self- and proxy-reports used in this study may have been affected by different sources of bias such as recall or social desirability. Our study may have recruited caregivers who would have been more concerned regarding their family’s health, including emotions and movement behaviors, affecting the composition of our sample. Although we used commonly used and freely available social networks to recruit participants throughout the entire country, the final sample was not entirely representative. The sample was more educated than that observed in the census for the same age group, but it was comparable in terms of dwelling type and living area (41). We recruited a large sample, but unfortunately for this section of t...

    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

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.02.09.21251387v1 on medRxiv