TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations between parent–child relationship, and children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and lifestyle behaviors in China during the COVID-19 epidemic
AU - Du, Fanxing
AU - He, Li
AU - Francis, Mark R.
AU - Forshaw, Mark
AU - Woolfall, Kerry
AU - Lv, Qian
AU - Shi, Lu
AU - Hou, Zhiyuan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project of Public Health [Grant Numbers: GWV-10.1-XK14], the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71874034), and the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC1312600 and 2018YFC1312604). The funders of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation or writing of the report.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12/3
Y1 - 2021/12/3
N2 - To investigate associations between parent–child relationships, children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and lifestyle responses to the COVID-19 epidemic, we conducted an online survey of a random, representative sample of residents with children aged 3–17 years during mid-March 2020 in Wuhan and Shanghai, China. A total of 1655 parents and children were surveyed with a response rate of 80.1% in the survey. During the epidemic, the frequency of children enquiring about the epidemic (AOR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.06), parents explaining the epidemic to them (AOR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.80, 4.58), parents expressing negative emotions in front of them (AOR = 2.62; 95% CI = 2.08–3.30), and parents with more irritable attitudes (AOR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.33–2.81) were significantly associated with children’s externalizing symptoms. For internalizing symptoms, significant associations were found with worse parent–child closeness (AOR = 2.93; 95% CI = 1.80–4.79), the frequency of parents expressing negative emotions in front of them (AOR = 2.64; 95% CI = 1.68, 4.12), and more irritable attitudes (AOR = 2.24; 95% CI = 1.42–3.55). We also found that each indicator of parent–child relationships had the significantly similar associations with children’s lifestyle behaviors. These findings suggest that improving parents’ attitudes towards their children and parent–child closeness during the epidemic, especially among parents with lower educational levels, are important to ensure the wellbeing of children.
AB - To investigate associations between parent–child relationships, children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and lifestyle responses to the COVID-19 epidemic, we conducted an online survey of a random, representative sample of residents with children aged 3–17 years during mid-March 2020 in Wuhan and Shanghai, China. A total of 1655 parents and children were surveyed with a response rate of 80.1% in the survey. During the epidemic, the frequency of children enquiring about the epidemic (AOR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.06), parents explaining the epidemic to them (AOR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.80, 4.58), parents expressing negative emotions in front of them (AOR = 2.62; 95% CI = 2.08–3.30), and parents with more irritable attitudes (AOR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.33–2.81) were significantly associated with children’s externalizing symptoms. For internalizing symptoms, significant associations were found with worse parent–child closeness (AOR = 2.93; 95% CI = 1.80–4.79), the frequency of parents expressing negative emotions in front of them (AOR = 2.64; 95% CI = 1.68, 4.12), and more irritable attitudes (AOR = 2.24; 95% CI = 1.42–3.55). We also found that each indicator of parent–child relationships had the significantly similar associations with children’s lifestyle behaviors. These findings suggest that improving parents’ attitudes towards their children and parent–child closeness during the epidemic, especially among parents with lower educational levels, are important to ensure the wellbeing of children.
UR - https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/43319022-2f74-45dd-bde5-aa0b4e854d58
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-02672-7
DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-02672-7
M3 - Article (journal)
C2 - 34862415
AN - SCOPUS:85120892374
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 11
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 23375
ER -