Differences in Psychological and Behavioral Changes between Children following School Closure due to COVID-19
Table 1
Between-group comparison of stress and children’s understanding of COVID-19.
Variables
Lower grade elementary school ()
Higher grade elementary school ()
Junior high school ()
Senior high school ()
Cramer’s
Yes, (%)
Yes, (%)
Yes, (%)
Yes, (%)
Has your child been stressed about COVID-19?
113 (77.9)
103 (83.1)
104 (78.8)
102 (76.1)
.573
.061
Does your child have an adequate understanding of COVID-19, such as the person-to-person transmission, unavailability of the vaccine, and isolation of infected people?
130 (89.7)‡
121 (97.6)
130 (98.5)
131 (97.8)
<0.001
.182
Does your child understand and follow COVID-19 restrictions, such as the prohibition of nonessential meetings or playing outside?
100 (69.0)‡
110 (88.7)
125 (94.7)†
133 (99.3)†
<0.001
.359
Has your child been afraid of getting infected with COVID-19?
18 (77.9)
21 (83.1)
20(78.9)
24 (76.1)
.603
.059
Has your child been stressed about the prohibition from playing outside?
97 (66.9)
88 (71.0)
82 (62.1)
79 (59.0)
.161
.098
Has your child been afraid of infecting other people?
5 (3.4)
5 (4.0)
10 (7.6)
12 (9.0)
.158
.092
Has your child been stressed about being restricted to staying with family?
6 (4.1)
8 (6.5)
11 (8.3)
17 (12.7)
.058
.118
Has your child been stressed about not being able to see friends or teachers?
61 (42.1)‡
75 (60.5)
74 (56.5)
75 (56.0)
.013
.142
Has your child been stressed about not being able to live in the same way as before?
52 (35.9)
48 (38.7)
50 (38.2)
56 (41.8)
.757
.047
Has your child been stressed about wearing masks?
32 (22.1)
27 (21.8)
18 (13.7)
22 (16.4)
.199
.093
Has your child been stressed about washing hands?
8 (5.5)
10 (8.1)
5 (3.8)
3 (2.2)
.159
.098
Has your child been stressed about being prohibited from visiting crowded places?
48 (33.1)
37 (29.8)
29 (22.1)
36 (26.9)
.208
.092
Has your child been stressed about school closures?
70 (48.3)
77 (62.1)
78 (59.5)
75 (56.0)
.117
.105
The chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test were used for statistical analysis. COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019. ,,†, ‡.
