Psychosocial Stressors among School-Age Children and Coping Strategies during Covid-19 Pandemic

Document Type : Research articles

Authors

1 Technical Institute Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University.

2 Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome, which is highly infectious. It spreads quickly and widely throughout the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has a serious psychosocial impact on school-age children. Identifying coping mechanisms during stressful moments can help with early and efficient interventions. Objective: To identify the psychosocial stressors among school age children and coping strategies during Covid.19 pandemic. Setting: The study was carried out at the Pediatric Outpatient Clinics in Smouha Specialty Hospital and Alexandria University Children Hospital at El- Shatby. Subjects: 200 school-age children who fulfilled the criteria, comprised the study. Tools: three tools were used for data collection. Tool I children socio-demographic characteristics and clinical data questionnaire sheet. Tool II interview schedule about psychosocial stressors among school-age children during Covid-19 pandemic. Tool III the coping inventory of stressful situation. Results: The present study revealed that more than half of studied children had 10-12 years. In addition, more than half of them were male and living in rural areas (56.0%& 58.0% respectively). The majority of studied children were always afraid of losing family members and also afraid family members due to illness. Furthermore, nearly two thirds of them were always afraid of infection. More than half of children were always being socially stressed due to being away from their extended family. The mean percent score of task-oriented coping was high. Conclusion: The study concluded the majority of children exhibited severe psychosocial stressors during the COVID-19 crisis. Meanwhile, school-age children used various coping styles to cohabit with the pandemic. Recommendations: Implement counseling programs about COVID-19 for both healthy, and quarantined children and their caregivers to improve their awareness about the disease manifestations, complications and proper management approaches.

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