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. 2021 Dec 3;11(1):23375.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-02672-7.

Associations between parent-child relationship, and children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and lifestyle behaviors in China during the COVID-19 epidemic

Fanxing Du #  1 , Li He #  2 , Mark R Francis  3 , Mark Forshaw  4 , Kerry Woolfall  5 , Qian Lv  1 , Lu Shi  6 , Zhiyuan Hou  7
Affiliations

Associations between parent-child relationship, and children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and lifestyle behaviors in China during the COVID-19 epidemic

Fanxing Du et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The timeline of the COVID-19 epidemic progression and quarantine measures in Wuhan and Shanghai. Note: PHER: public health emergency response.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparing the proportions of children having unhealthy lifestyles before and during the COVID-19 epidemic. Note: Percentage (%) and 95% confidence interval were presented.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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