The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of Children
Introduction: The COVID-19 lockdown has caused important changes in children’s routines, especially in terms of nutrition, physical activity, screen time, social activity, and school time. Regarding these changes, recent studies show that the COVID-19 lockdown is associated with higher levels of anx...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Children |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/944 |
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| author | Roberto Lopez-Iracheta Laura Moreno-Galarraga Jose Manuel Moreno-Villares Oscar Emilio Bueso-Asfura Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez Nerea Martin-Calvo |
| author_facet | Roberto Lopez-Iracheta Laura Moreno-Galarraga Jose Manuel Moreno-Villares Oscar Emilio Bueso-Asfura Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez Nerea Martin-Calvo |
| author_sort | Roberto Lopez-Iracheta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: The COVID-19 lockdown has caused important changes in children’s routines, especially in terms of nutrition, physical activity, screen time, social activity, and school time. Regarding these changes, recent studies show that the COVID-19 lockdown is associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression in children. The objective of this study was to assess changes in sleep quality in Spanish children during the lockdown decreed by the Spanish government between March and June 2020. Methodology: We compared the BEAR (bedtime, excessive daytime sleepiness, awakening during the night, and regularity and duration of sleep) scores of 478 participants (median age = 7.5 years; 48% girls) in the SENDO project during the periods before, during, and after lockdown. The questionnaires were filled out by one of the parents. We used hierarchical models with two levels of clustering to account for the intra-cluster correlation between siblings. The interaction of time with a set of a priori selected variables was assessed by introducing the interaction term into the model and calculating the likelihood ratio test. Results: The mean scores in the BEAR questionnaire referred to the periods before, during, and after lockdown were 0.52 (sd 1.25), 1.43 (sd 1.99), and 1.07 (sd 1.55), respectively. These findings indicate a deterioration in sleep quality during the period of confinement. Parental level of education was found to be an effect modifier (<i>p</i> for interaction = 0.004). Children whose parents had higher education (university graduates or higher) showed a smaller worsening than those without. Conclusion: Our study shows that the COVID-19 lockdown was associated with a significant worsening of sleep quality. Moreover, although the end of the lockdown brought about a slight improvement, mean scores on the BEAR scale remained significantly higher than before the lockdown, suggesting that the consequences for sleep quality could persist over time. This worsening was higher in children whose parents had lower educational degrees. Helping children maintain healthy sleeping habits despite the circumstances and providing early psychological support when needed is important to prevent negative psycho-physical symptoms due to lockdown that could persist over the years. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:37:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-06dceb0ea71b4600ac5f5e8e8f3b711e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:37:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj.art-06dceb0ea71b4600ac5f5e8e8f3b711e2023-11-18T09:49:24ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672023-05-0110694410.3390/children10060944The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of ChildrenRoberto Lopez-Iracheta0Laura Moreno-Galarraga1Jose Manuel Moreno-Villares2Oscar Emilio Bueso-Asfura3Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez4Nerea Martin-Calvo5Department of Paediatrics, University Clinic of Navarra, Av. de Pío XII, 36, 31008 Pamplona, SpainDepartment of Paediatrics, University Hospital of Navarra, C/Irunlarrea sn, 31006 Pamplona, SpainDepartment of Paediatrics, University Clinic of Navarra, Av. de Pío XII, 36, 31008 Pamplona, SpainSchool of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University de Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, SpainSchool of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University de Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, SpainSchool of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University de Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, SpainIntroduction: The COVID-19 lockdown has caused important changes in children’s routines, especially in terms of nutrition, physical activity, screen time, social activity, and school time. Regarding these changes, recent studies show that the COVID-19 lockdown is associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression in children. The objective of this study was to assess changes in sleep quality in Spanish children during the lockdown decreed by the Spanish government between March and June 2020. Methodology: We compared the BEAR (bedtime, excessive daytime sleepiness, awakening during the night, and regularity and duration of sleep) scores of 478 participants (median age = 7.5 years; 48% girls) in the SENDO project during the periods before, during, and after lockdown. The questionnaires were filled out by one of the parents. We used hierarchical models with two levels of clustering to account for the intra-cluster correlation between siblings. The interaction of time with a set of a priori selected variables was assessed by introducing the interaction term into the model and calculating the likelihood ratio test. Results: The mean scores in the BEAR questionnaire referred to the periods before, during, and after lockdown were 0.52 (sd 1.25), 1.43 (sd 1.99), and 1.07 (sd 1.55), respectively. These findings indicate a deterioration in sleep quality during the period of confinement. Parental level of education was found to be an effect modifier (<i>p</i> for interaction = 0.004). Children whose parents had higher education (university graduates or higher) showed a smaller worsening than those without. Conclusion: Our study shows that the COVID-19 lockdown was associated with a significant worsening of sleep quality. Moreover, although the end of the lockdown brought about a slight improvement, mean scores on the BEAR scale remained significantly higher than before the lockdown, suggesting that the consequences for sleep quality could persist over time. This worsening was higher in children whose parents had lower educational degrees. Helping children maintain healthy sleeping habits despite the circumstances and providing early psychological support when needed is important to prevent negative psycho-physical symptoms due to lockdown that could persist over the years.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/944COVID-19 lockdownsleep qualityparental educationSENDO project |
| spellingShingle | Roberto Lopez-Iracheta Laura Moreno-Galarraga Jose Manuel Moreno-Villares Oscar Emilio Bueso-Asfura Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez Nerea Martin-Calvo The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of Children Children COVID-19 lockdown sleep quality parental education SENDO project |
| title | The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of Children |
| title_full | The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of Children |
| title_fullStr | The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of Children |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of Children |
| title_short | The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Sleep Quality of Children |
| title_sort | effects of covid 19 lockdown on the sleep quality of children |
| topic | COVID-19 lockdown sleep quality parental education SENDO project |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/6/944 |
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