School closings: New studies show the lockdown suffering of children

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When can the children and young people fully go back to school?

This question is also the focus of talks between the federal and state governments on the continuation of the lockdown or possible easing on Wednesday afternoon.

If you take a closer look at current studies by the Hamburg University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE), it quickly becomes clear: The pressure to act is great, because the psychological stress on children and adolescents has increased significantly over the past few months.

And that is not only due to the care situation, but also to the other living conditions in the families.

Domestic violence is also a growing negative factor, as another UKE study published on Wednesday shows.

Prof. Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer of the UKE Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has with her team for the second copsy study (copsy stands for

Co

rona and

Psy

che) from mid-December 2020 to mid January 2021 more than 1,000 children and young people and surveyed more than 1,600 parents using an online questionnaire.

More than 80 percent of the children between the ages of 7 and 17 and parents surveyed had already taken part in the first survey in June 2020.

According to the researchers, it is the first nationwide and internationally one of the few longitudinal studies on this topic.

45 percent of the children and adolescents surveyed perceive their school situation as more strenuous than in the first lockdown, 45 percent as just as exhausting.

Only ten percent feel improvements.

In response to questions about the general quality of life, to which factors outside of school also contribute, seven out of ten children speak of a “reduced quality of life” in the more recent survey, in the first survey in May / June it was six out of ten and before Corona three out of ten.

85 percent of children say today that they perceive the stress of the Corona crisis as "extremely or fairly stressful"; in the first lockdown this value was 70 percent.

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Almost every third child, according to the results of the survey, suffers from psychological problems less than a year after the start of the pandemic.

Worries and fears have increased again, and depressive symptoms and psychosomatic complaints have also increased.

“Our results show once again: Those who were in good shape before the pandemic, who have learned structures and feel comfortable and in good hands with their families, will get through the pandemic well.

However, we need more reliable concepts to support children from high-risk families in particular and to strengthen their mental health, ”says study director Prof. Ravens-Sieberer.

Schools are also asked here to maintain regular contact with their students and thereby show them appreciation and attention.

“Otherwise there is a risk that children from risk families in particular will lose their motivation and the joy of learning.

But overall we also have to take greater account of the emotional stresses and needs of families and children during the pandemic and during a lockdown, ”said the researcher.

Parents also show more symptoms of depression

The health behavior of children and young people has also deteriorated even further.

They continue to eat an unhealthy diet with lots of sweets and ten times more children than before the pandemic and twice as many as in the first survey no longer do any sport at all.

At the same time, the children spend even more time than in early summer 2020 on mobile phones, tablets and games consoles, although they now use digital media more frequently for school.

“Sport is essential for mental and physical wellbeing.

In addition to exercise, which is so important for healthy development, children and young people also meet their friends during sport, learn to fit into a team and to deal with conflicts, victories and defeats, ”says Ravens-Sieberer, who also analyzed the parents' questionnaires.

These, too, now felt burdened by the ongoing pandemic and showed increased depressive symptoms.

“The parents seem to have adjusted to the demands of homeschooling and the double burden of their work and are trying to manage them as best as possible.

But they are increasingly reaching their limits ”, is the conclusion.

High number of unreported cases of child welfare risks

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What this can lead to in extreme cases is shown in a second UKE study on child welfare risks published on Wednesday, which, however, has to work more closely with assumptions.

Compared to the same period in the previous year, the number of child welfare risks in German children's clinics and child protection clinics decreased in March and April 2020, according to the result of a study by the Research Network Medical Child Protection of the UKE, in which 159 child protection clinics and child protection groups in Germany took part.

The researchers therefore suspect that the number of unreported cases of abuse and neglect of children affected may have increased further.

“In times of social isolation, children have fewer opportunities to send help signals.

We know from other studies that especially children who were affected by violence before the pandemic were more likely to be affected again in the first lockdown, ”explains Dr.

Jo Ewert, child protection coordinator in the clinic and polyclinic for child and adolescent medicine at the UKE.

If there is a suspicion of endangering the welfare of the child, “look instead of looking the other way.” Those affected could reach the 'number against Kummer' on 116111 for advice.