Coronabezogene Zukunftsangst bei Grundschulkindern im Verlauf von 8 Monaten der Pandemie
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Authors
To explore the long-term effects of the COVID-19-pandemic on children, N = 140 8- to 10- year-olds were asked about their COVID-related future anxiety (CRFA) in their classrooms during months 6, 9, and 14 of the pandemic which started inMarch 2020 in Germany. Future anxiety was defined as a "state of apprehension, uncertainty, fear, worry, or anxiety about unfavorable changes in a more distant personal future" which was related to the effects of the COVID- 19-pandemic. In this survey, 13%to 19%of children reported experiencing CRFA "often" on at least one of the four items of the newly developed CRFA scale. Experiencing CRFA "often" was reported by 16% of the children at two and by 8 % of the children at three measurement points, among them more girls and more children from homes with poor educational backgrounds. Analyses uncovered large interindividual differences: For 45 % of the children CRFA decreased between months 6 and 9 of the pandemic, whereas for 43 % it increased. Children of parents with low educational backgrounds weremore likely to report frequent CRFA at all three measurement time points, even after controlling for gender and incidence of COVID-19-in Germany.This confirms predictions that contagion risk and controllability influence future anxiety. The descriptive results additionally support earlier findings that many children already experience future anxiety about macro-level events. The results on chronic CRFA underscore the urgency to examine the long-time effects of CRFA with greater care.This is of paramount importance considering the macro-level challenges of the future.
Translated title of the contribution | School Children's COVID-Related Future Anxiety over the Course of 8Months of the Pandemic |
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Original language | German |
Journal | Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie |
Volume | 72 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 305-322 |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISSN | 0032-7034 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 23.05.2023 |
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- Psychology