ΕXPLORATION OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF QUARANTINE DURING PERIOD COVID-19 AMONG CHIL-DREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Fotios Maris, Afroditi Zartaloudi, Ioannis Koutelekos

Saturday, April 1, 2023

Publication year:

2023

Authors:

• Maris Fotios, Pediatrician, General Hospital Trikala, Thessalian, Greece
• Zartaloudi Afroditi, Lecturer, Department of Nursing, TEI of Athens
• Koutelekos Ioannis, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Nursing A',Technological Educational Institute of Athens

Keywords index:

• Pandemic
• mental health
• psychological impact
• quarantine
• family
• parents
• anxiety
• anger
• depression
• children
• adolescents

Pages: 147-156

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11032280

Abstract:

Introduction: Children and adolescents are among the population groups most affected on a mental, social and phys-ical level due to the advent of the pandemic and the restrictive measures implemented to safeguard public health and safety. Aim: To explore the psychological impact of quarantine on children and adolescents during Covid-19 and the factors influencing children's attitudes towards the pandemic and quarantine phenomenon.Method and Material: A search of review and research articles in the electronic databases Pub Med, Google Scholar, from 2019 to 2022 was conducted. The search included combining different terms (e.g. pandemic, mental health, psychological effects, quar-antine, family, parents, anxiety, anger, depression, children, adolescents) and combining these terms in Greek and English to identify and display articles related to the study topic.Results: The results showed that children during quarantine, showed strong symptoms of sadness, fear, anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep problems, eating, social interaction. In the age group of adolescents, it was shown that during quarantine, depression, anxiety, OCD and PTSD symptoms were predominant. Interestingly, however, these symptoms were more pronounced in adolescents than they were in children. The closure of schools, the inability to access school materials, the lack of interaction with other children or teachers led to a psychological and emotional breakdown of children with disabilities. In developing countries, children and adolescents remained out of school for a much longer period of time than children in developed countries, facing social and economic problems. Conclusions: There is a need for early assessment of the psychological impact on children and adolescents in order to apply effective intervention according to their age groups. At the same time, counselling and appropriate information about the pandemic is needed to improve the mental health of children, adolescents and their families.