A Study to assess the impact of Pandemic Restrictions on Psychosocial well being among school going children in Pediatric ward and outpatient department of JMMC and RI, Thrissur

Amala Babu. A¹, Amala Shilppa Benny¹, Amitha Shaju¹, Angela Biju¹, Emil Varghese¹,

Gloria. G. Tharakan¹, Jacquilin Nelson¹, Liviya. J. Rose¹, Suja Ann Joseph², Sr. TreasaAnto³, Angela Gnandhurai⁴

¹III^rd Year B.Sc Nursing Students, Jubilee Mission College of Nursing.

²Assistant Professor, Jubilee Mission College of Nursing.

³Vice Principal, Jubilee Mission College of Nursing.

⁴Principal, Jubilee Mission College of Nursing.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: sujaannthayil@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

The descriptive study to assess the impact of pandemic restrictions on psychosocial well-being among school going children and find the association between selected socio-demographic variables and impact of pandemic restrictions on psychosocial well-being among school going children. Methodology: The study was conducted among 100 school going children in pediatric ward and outpatient department of JMMC & RI, Thrissur. The research design used was descriptive design and sampling technique was purposive sampling. Data collected through questionnaires. Tool was divided in to two sections, section A – sociodemographic and clinical data questionnaire and section B- Modified Multi-dimensional student life satisfaction scale. Result: It shows that 1. Socio-demographic data: Out of the 100 samples Majority of 53(53%) children belongs to the age group of 10-12 years, 60(60%) were males, 41(41%) belongs to Muslim community, Half of them are studying in Vth standard, 57(57%) are studying in state syllabus. Majority of fathers, 49(49%) belongs to the age group of 31-40 years, 27(27%) have educational status of both primary and secondary education, 96(96%) are working. Majority of mothers, 61(61%) belongs to the age group of 31-40 years, 33(33%) have educational status of degree, 75(75%) are not working. Majority of family income, 52(52%) are having the income between 15,000-25, 000 rupees. Majority of their family's, 76(76%) belongs to nuclear family, 55(55%) have the presence of grandparents, 63(63%) has no COVID-19 history, 57(57%) has knowledge about COVID-19 and 95(95%) has no significant history of mental/social illness. The overall distribution of samples showed 55(55%) has moderate psychosocial well-beings, 45(45%) has high psychosocial well-being and 0(0%) has low psychosocial well-being. There is significant association (p<0.05) between socio demographic variable sex (χ2= 5.093, p <0.023) with psychosocial Well-being of school going children. As out of the 100 samples there were 574 (14.35%) has given the response as ‘Never’, 357(8.92%) has given the response as ‘Sometimes’, 595(14.88%) has given the response ‘Often’, 2474(61.85%) has given the response as ‘Almost often’ to the questionnaire given in the modified multidimensional students life satisfaction scale. From the scoring, we found that 55(55%) has moderate psychosocial well-being and 45(45%) has high psychosocial well-being. Moreover, we found that there is no evidence of low psychosocial Well-being among school going children during the pandemic restriction time period. As compared to the male children, female children have high psychosocial well-being.

KEYWORDS: Psychosocial Wellbeing, School Going Children, Impact of Pandemic Restrictions.

INTRODUCTION:

The psychosocial effects of the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus concern. Indeed, it is likely that COVID-19 will affect the population presently, as the pandemic spreads, but the impact may last long into the future. We would expect that many individuals will experience a rise in mental distress symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, during the unprecedented times when populations have been required to drastically change their day to day of life. Children are the future of upcoming world. In the current context of lockdown and restrictions of movement, children have constrained access to socialization, play and physical contact, which are critical for their psychosocial wellbeing and development.1 School closures are preventing children from access to learning and limiting their interaction to peer groups. Thus children get confused in the current situation, this will lead to stress and anxiety, which increases the exposure to mass and social media. All these collectively lead to long term negative events, such as reduced learning time, increased use of electronic devices, changes in sleep pattern. In addition, parents psychological stress during pandemic also affect children’s behavior. Thus it affects overall development.¹

MATERIAL AND METHOD:

Research approach:

Quantitative research

Research design:

Descriptive design

Target population:

6-12 years of children in pediatric OPD of JMMC & RI

Accessible population: Setting:

6-12 years of children in paediatric ward, OPD in JMMC&RI and those who willing to participate in study.

Sampling technique:

Purposive sampling

Sampling size:

100 children

Data collection:

Psychosocial wellbeing questionnaire

Data Analysis:

Descriptive statistics and Inferential statistics

Criteria measure:

Psychosocial wellbeing

RESULT:

Section A: Distribution of Socio demographic data and clinical data variables:

53(53%) children belong to the age group of 10-12 years, 60(60%) were males, 41(41%) belongs to Muslim community, Half of them are studying in Vth standard, 57(57%) are studying in state syllabus. Majority of fathers, 49(49%) belongs to the age group of 31-40 years, 27(27%) have educational status of both primary and secondary education, 96(96%) are working. Majority of mothers, 61(61%) belongs to the age group of 31-40 years, 33(33%) have educational status of degree, 75(75%) are not working. Majority of family income, 52(52%) are having the income between 15,000 - 25,000 rupees. Majority of their family's, 76(76%) belongs to nuclear family, 55(55%) have the presence of grandparents, 63(63%) has no COVID-19 history, 57(57%) has knowledge about COVID-19 and 95(95%) has no significant history of mental/socialillness.

Section B: Assessment of impact of pandemic restrictions on psycho social well-being using data obtained from modified multi dimensional students life satisfaction scale:

Fig 1: Percentage distribution of sample according to psychosocial wellbeing (n =100)

Figure 1 shows that 45(45%) of school going children has high psychosocial wellbeing and 55% of school going children has moderate psychosocial wellbeing.

Section C: Association between socio-demographic variables with psycho social well-being of school going children:

Socio-demographic variable sex (χ2 = 5.093, p<0.023) had significant association with psychosocial wellbeing of school going children at p<0.05 level. Socio-demographic variables such as age, class, syllabus, income, family type, presence of grandparents, history of COVID and presence of mental illness in family had no association (p<0.05) with psychosocial wellbeing of school going children

DISCUSSION:

The findings of the study were discussed in terms of objectives of the study. The data Collected from the findings of the present study was compared and contrasted with Those other similar studies conducted in other settings.

To assess the impact of pandemic restrictions on psychosocial well-being among School going children:

The findings of the present study assess the impact of pandemic restrictions on psychosocial well-being among school going children. As out of the 100 samples there were 574(14.35%) has given the response as ‘Never’, 357(8.92%) has given the response as ‘Sometimes’, 595 (14.88%) has given the response ‘Often’, 2474(61.85%) Has given the response as ‘Almost often’ to the questionnaire given in the modified multidimensional students life satisfaction scale. From the scoring, we found that 55(55%) the study findings were supported by a cross sectional study; psychosocial health of School aged children during the initial COVID 19 safer- at home school mandates inFlorida conducted by Sarah L McKune, Daniel Acosta, Nick Diaz, Kaitlin Brittain, Diana Joyce Beaulieu, Antony T. Maurelli and Eric J Nelson. This study aims to describe the psychosocial health of school-aged children and adolescents during the COVID-19 Safer at-home School mandates. 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. And their result was loss of household income was associated with increased Risk for all three index-based outcomes: depressive symptoms (aOR=3.130, 95% Cl=(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=(1.04-297)], 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 (1.04-231)] lower school level was associated with children Being at higher risk of anxiety-related and OCD related symptoms. They concluded that: 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. Keywords: COVID-19, Mental health, Psychosocial impacts, vulnerable population, Pandemic.²

To assess the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic:

DeepikaBhal, ShaliniBassi and Monika Arora (2021) was conducted a study on the health and well-being of children (5-9 years) and adolescents (10-19) in India. The aim of study was assess the effects of COVID-19 on children and adolescents health and well-being. They used the snowball search strategy; and they mined peer-reviewed articles, reports and government websites for evidence from January 2020 to February 2021. And they founded that; There were widespread challenges facing by significant proportions of the school-age population, and it includes unavailability of smartphones and computers, lack of technology skills and lack of electricity. And they suggested that the government of India have to take steps to respond to the pandemics fallout on education. To build back better, the imperative is for the central and state governments non-government organizations and the private sector to work together in mitigating the severe impacts on India’s young population.³

To find the association between selected socio demographic variables and impact of pandemic restrictions on the psychosocial well-being among school going Children.

There is association (p=0.023) between the sex of the child with psychosocial well-being of the child. There is no significant association betweenpsychosocial well-being of the children with socio demographic and clinical data variables of child such as age, class, syllabus, type of family, presence of COVID history, presence of grandparents and presence of mental illness in the family. And there is no significant association between psychosocial well-being of the children with socio demographic and clinical data variables of parents such as income.

To assess the impact of covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of children:

SabinaYeasmin, Rajon Banik, Sorif Hossain, Md. Nazmul Hossain, Raju Mahumud, Nahid Salma, Md. Moyazzem Hossain (2020) conducted a study on impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study. This study aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of children during the lockdown in Bangladesh. An online cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 parents having at least one child aged between 515 years using non-probability sampling. The result of the study was children were classified into four groups where 43% of child had subthreshold mental disturbances (mean Major Disorder (MDD)-10; 2.8), 30.5% had mild (mean MDD-10; 8.9), 19.3% suffered moderately (mean MDD-10; 15.9), and 7.2% of child suffered from severe disturbances (mean MDD-10; 25.2). The study demonstrates large proportions of children are suffering from mental health disturbances in Bangladesh during the period of lockdown. The study concluded the need for the implementation of psychological intervention strategies and improvement in house-hold financial conditions, literacy of parents, taking care of children, and job security may help in improving the psychological/mental status of children and the authors believe that the findings will be beneficial to accelerate the rate of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) linked to health status in Bangladesh.⁴

CONCLUSION:

The present study was to assess the impact of pandemic restrictions on the psychosocial well-being of the school going children in the pediatric ward and OPD of JMMC and RI, Thrissur. At the end of study the investigation team found that majority of school going children had moderate psychosocial well-being during the COVID -19 pandemic restriction period. Moreover we found that there is no evidence of low psychosocial well-being among school going children during the pandemic restriction time period. As compared to the male children, female children have high psychosocial well-being.

REFERENCE:

1. https://www.corc.uk.net/outcome-experience-measures/multidimensional-students-life-satisfaction-scale-mslss/

2. McKune, S.L., Acosta, D., Diaz, N. et al. Psychosocial health of school-aged children during the initial COVID-19safer-at-home school mandates in Florida: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 21, 603 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10540-2

3. DeepikaBahl, ShaliniBassi, and Monika Arora, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Childrenand Adolescents: Early Evidencein India,” ORF Issue Brief No.448, March 2021, Observer ResearchFoundation.

4. Yeasmin, S., Banik, R., Hossain, S., Hossain, M. N., Mahumud, R., Salma, N., & Hossain, M. M. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study. Children and youth services review, 117, 105277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105277