背景:大流行对儿童及其家庭的日常生活产生了重大影响,特别是医护人员的孩子,由于父母的工作日程导致家庭惯例的变化。我们旨在探讨COVID-19大流行期间医护人员母亲(HCWM)子女的社会情感和行为(SEB)问题,并将其与年龄匹配的儿童及其来自其他职业的母亲进行比较。
方法:采用病例对照研究设计,并使用滚雪球方法招募年龄在6至36个月之间的志愿者,通过Google调查。我们使用了简短的婴儿-幼儿社会和情绪评估(BITSEA)问卷来评估儿童的SEB问题,并使用了简短的症状清单(BSI)来评估母亲的心理困扰。BITSEA的差异,使用卡方和Mann-WhitneyU检验检查BSI和MSPSS分数,视情况而定。使用逻辑回归模型来确定儿童行为和情绪问题的独立预测因素。
结果:总计,分析了600份问卷。据观察,HCWM组的儿童与母亲分离的频率更高,分离的时间也更长(p<0.010,p=0.002)。在流感大流行期间,儿童的结构性户外活动的变化更可能在HCWM组中观察到(p<0.05)。BITSEA问题子量表高于亚临床截止值的儿童百分比,HCWM组的外化和失调评分显著较高(p=0.044,p=0.031和p=0.016).此外,BSI整体指数评分(p<0.001,RR:3.34,95CI:1.91~5.82)的每增加一个点被认为是临床显著SEB问题的危险因素.
结论:总体而言,目前的研究表明,HCWM经历了职业不平等,在大流行期间,HCWM的幼儿面临外部化和失调问题的风险增加。母亲的心理压力对子女的社会情绪幸福感有显著影响。
BACKGROUND: The pandemic has had a significant impact on the daily lives of children and their families, particularly the children of health care workers, due to changes in family routines as a result of their parents\' work schedules. We aimed to explore the socioemotional and behavioural (SEB) problems of children of healthcare worker mothers (HCWM) during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare them with age-matched children and their mothers from other occupations.
METHODS: A case-control study design was applied, and a snowball approach was used to enrol volunteered participants aged between 6 and 36 months of age, through a Google survey. We used the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) questionnaire to assess children\'s SEB problems and a Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) to evaluate the psychological distress of mothers. Differences in BITSEA, BSI and MSPSS scores were examined using chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests, as appropriate. A logistic regression model was used to identify independent predictors of children\'s behavioural and emotional problems.
RESULTS: In total, 600 questionnaires were analysed. It was observed that children in the HCWM group were separated from their mothers more often and for longer periods of time than their counterparts (p < 0.010, p = 0.002). Changes in the child\'s structured outdoor activities during the pandemic period were more likely to be observed in the HCWM group (p < 0.05). The percentage of children with the BITSEA problem subscale above the subclinical cut-off, externalizing and dysregulation scores were significantly higher in the HCWM group (p = 0.044, p = 0.031, and p = 0.016). Moreover, each point increase in BSI global index scores (p < 0.001, RR:3.34, 95%CI:1.91-5.82) was found as a risk factor for clinically significant SEB problems.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the current study suggests HCWM\'s have experienced occupational inequality, and young children of HCWM\'s were at increased risk for externalizing and dysregulation problems during the pandemic. Maternal psychological stress had a significant impact on their children\'s socio-emotional well-being.