Longitudinal prediction of primary school children's COVID-related future anxiety in the second year of the pandemic in Germany
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In: PLoS ONE, Vol. 19, No. 5, e0302065, 08.05.2024.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Longitudinal prediction of primary school children's COVID-related future anxiety in the second year of the pandemic in Germany
AU - Voltmer, Katharina
AU - von Salisch, Maria
N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright: © 2024 Voltmer, von Salisch.
PY - 2024/5/8
Y1 - 2024/5/8
N2 - Although research has confirmed that the first COVID-19-related lockdown has increased stress and mental health problems in children, less is known about the longer-term effects of the pandemic on children’s COVID-related future anxiety (CRFA). Because of CRFA’s potentially debilitating effects, risk and resilience factors against this anxiety were investigated. To this end, n = 140 children (49% female) in 3rd and 4th grade classrooms in Germany were asked to perform a working memory task and to self-report about their CRFA and emotion regulation in December 2020 and in May 2021. More maladaptive emotion regulation in December 2020 contributed to the explanation of a high CRFA score in May 2021, whereas a better performance on working memory updating contributed a lower CRFA score later when controls were in place. These results were confirmed when children’s CRFA in December 2020 was included in the prediction of their later CRFA. They suggest that maladaptive strategies of emotion regulation, such as rumination, may explain higher or increasing levels of CRFA, whereas efficient working memory updating may be an indicator of processing information in a way which shields children from CRFA-related thoughts. The concepts underlying these variables should be included in prevention and intervention efforts.
AB - Although research has confirmed that the first COVID-19-related lockdown has increased stress and mental health problems in children, less is known about the longer-term effects of the pandemic on children’s COVID-related future anxiety (CRFA). Because of CRFA’s potentially debilitating effects, risk and resilience factors against this anxiety were investigated. To this end, n = 140 children (49% female) in 3rd and 4th grade classrooms in Germany were asked to perform a working memory task and to self-report about their CRFA and emotion regulation in December 2020 and in May 2021. More maladaptive emotion regulation in December 2020 contributed to the explanation of a high CRFA score in May 2021, whereas a better performance on working memory updating contributed a lower CRFA score later when controls were in place. These results were confirmed when children’s CRFA in December 2020 was included in the prediction of their later CRFA. They suggest that maladaptive strategies of emotion regulation, such as rumination, may explain higher or increasing levels of CRFA, whereas efficient working memory updating may be an indicator of processing information in a way which shields children from CRFA-related thoughts. The concepts underlying these variables should be included in prevention and intervention efforts.
KW - Psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192632131&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/bee9ed93-973a-3c63-8757-686ae941f297/
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0302065
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0302065
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 38718073
AN - SCOPUS:85192632131
VL - 19
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 5
M1 - e0302065
ER -