Behavioral and Emotional Changes Across COVID-19 School Experiences in Children and Adolescents
November 27, 2021- 00:04My name is Brittany Gunnison and
- 00:06I completed my Masters thesis on
- 00:08behavioral and emotional changes
- 00:10across COVID-19 school experiences
- 00:12in children and adolescents.
- 00:14The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated
- 00:17several containment measures,
- 00:18including full or partial remote learning
- 00:20for some children and adolescents.
- 00:23Displacement from school is known
- 00:25to be socially isolating with the
- 00:27potential to impact child behavior.
- 00:29However, the direction of effect.
- 00:31With pandemic school closures on
- 00:33the emotional well being of children
- 00:35and adolescents is not yet clear.
- 00:37Table one demonstrates a summary of
- 00:40the previously existing literature
- 00:42which examined COVID-19 school
- 00:43instruction and child well being.
- 00:46Each of these studies lacked either
- 00:48a nationally representative sample
- 00:50comparison across COVID-19 school experience,
- 00:53the use of validated scales,
- 00:55or comparison with pre COVID data.
- 00:57Additionally,
- 00:58none of these studies included
- 01:01longitudinal follow-up.
- 01:02The present study would account
- 01:04for each of these factors.
- 01:06This answer rational longitudinal
- 01:07study will compare pre COVID current
- 01:10and follow-up child behavior checklist
- 01:12scores using participants from the
- 01:15adolescent brain cognitive development study.
- 01:17We hypothesize that there will be a
- 01:20statistically significant increase
- 01:22between mean pre COVID SL T scores
- 01:24and current SCELTI scores in remote
- 01:27learning groups when compared to
- 01:29hybrid and classroom learning
- 01:31experiences during the pandemic.
- 01:34Figure one demonstrates the possible
- 01:36modifying factors that were included
- 01:39in this study.
- 01:40Mediating variables are those
- 01:41that explain how two variables,
- 01:43such as an exposure and an outcome
- 01:46are related.
- 01:46A moderating variable affects the
- 01:49strength and direction of how an
- 01:51exposure and outcome are related.
- 01:53Some moderating variables are
- 01:55also confounders in our study.
- 01:58Possible mediators included
- 02:00increased sedentary time,
- 02:01decreased physical activity,
- 02:03decreased time spent with friends,
- 02:05increasing Internet usage,
- 02:07parent offspring conflict,
- 02:09parental difficulty, sleeping.
- 02:11Parental anxiety,
- 02:13parental worry about COVID-19,
- 02:15childcare concerns,
- 02:17and parent concern about job stability.
- 02:20The moderating variables included
- 02:22in the study for age, gender,
- 02:24race, residential area,
- 02:26number of close friends,
- 02:29presence of neurodevelopmental diagnosis,
- 02:31annual household income,
- 02:34parent age,
- 02:35parent education level and
- 02:37parents having organic diseases.
- 02:40This study is strengthened by its
- 02:43novelty in providing longitudinal
- 02:44data with follow-up measurements
- 02:46as well as utilizing validated
- 02:48scales comparing pre COVID post
- 02:50COVID data and studying a
- 02:52nationally representative sample.
- 02:54The limitations of this study lie in
- 02:56the variability of infection rates in
- 02:59school protocols throughout the pandemic,
- 03:01as well as any confounding factors
- 03:04that could have impacted child
- 03:06behavior during the pandemic and were
- 03:08not recognized by the researchers.
- 03:10The clinical significance of this study
- 03:12stems from its ability to determine
- 03:14the long term effects that remote
- 03:16learning will have on child behavior.
- 03:18This information could be used to
- 03:20direct distribution of resources
- 03:22during pandemic recovery efforts
- 03:24by identifying specific student
- 03:26characteristics or learning experiences
- 03:28that put them at increased risk for
- 03:31behavioral and emotional effects.
- 03:32Identification of risk factors
- 03:34would enable early intervention
- 03:36in the prevention of long term
- 03:38effects of social isolation,
- 03:40such as cardiovascular disease,
- 03:42depression, and psychotic experiences.
- 03:46I would like to thank Doctor Mays,
- 03:48Dr Gonzalas Colosso, Megan Pendergast,
- 03:51Caitlin Meyer and the Yale School of
- 03:53Medicine librarians for their guidance,
- 03:55support and encouragement throughout
- 03:57this thesis process. Thank you.