TY - JOUR
T1 - Czech adolescents’ remote school and health experiences during the spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown
AU - Ng, Kwok
AU - Cosma, Alina
AU - Svacina, Karel
AU - Boniel-Nissim, Meyran
AU - Badura, Petr
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Schools around the world were closed during the spring 2020 lockdown to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As such, these rapid changes to adolescent daily routines may have had immediate as well as long-term effects on their physical, social, and mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the experiences, health behaviors and perceived change in health behaviors among adolescents in Czechia during the spring 2020 lockdown. Adolescents (n = 3,440, 54% girls; Mage = 13.5 years, SD = 1.6) from all regions of Czechia were recruited to complete a self-report survey based on the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, with additional items on household disruptions and socialization during lockdown, as well as items on perceived changes in health behaviors during lockdown. First, we described the self-reported impacts of the spring lockdown by gender and grade. Second, log-linear analyses were used to examine the perceived behavioral changes based on standardized cut-off values reporting for health behaviors and gender. Less than a third, 19% and 32% of the respondents reported economic and psychosocial disruptions to their family life, 79% indicated they had positive opportunities for family interactions or learning new things. Girls and older adolescents reported the worst levels of social and mental well-being. Changes in respondents’ perceived health behaviors varied by reported behavior frequencies and gender. These results may be useful to compare with future secular trends, and may serve as input in developing strategies to counter the impact of the spring 2020 or future similar lockdowns on the adolescents' well-being.
AB - Schools around the world were closed during the spring 2020 lockdown to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As such, these rapid changes to adolescent daily routines may have had immediate as well as long-term effects on their physical, social, and mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the experiences, health behaviors and perceived change in health behaviors among adolescents in Czechia during the spring 2020 lockdown. Adolescents (n = 3,440, 54% girls; Mage = 13.5 years, SD = 1.6) from all regions of Czechia were recruited to complete a self-report survey based on the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, with additional items on household disruptions and socialization during lockdown, as well as items on perceived changes in health behaviors during lockdown. First, we described the self-reported impacts of the spring lockdown by gender and grade. Second, log-linear analyses were used to examine the perceived behavioral changes based on standardized cut-off values reporting for health behaviors and gender. Less than a third, 19% and 32% of the respondents reported economic and psychosocial disruptions to their family life, 79% indicated they had positive opportunities for family interactions or learning new things. Girls and older adolescents reported the worst levels of social and mental well-being. Changes in respondents’ perceived health behaviors varied by reported behavior frequencies and gender. These results may be useful to compare with future secular trends, and may serve as input in developing strategies to counter the impact of the spring 2020 or future similar lockdowns on the adolescents' well-being.
KW - Coronavirus
KW - Food
KW - Health behaviors
KW - Physical activity
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - School closure
KW - Screentime
KW - Sleep
KW - Well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105098699&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101386
DO - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101386
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85105098699
SN - 2211-3355
VL - 22
SP - -
JO - Preventive Medicine Reports
JF - Preventive Medicine Reports
M1 - 101386
ER -