The Pandemic Has Made Children More Unhappy
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How has the coronavirus pandemic affected the mood and life satisfaction of younger children? Professor Ricarda Steinmayr and her team from the Institute of Psychology at TU Dortmund University have examined this and compared it with surveys from before the pandemic. They recently published their results in the “Journal of Happiness Studies” and in doing so have presented one of the first longitudinal studies on this topic.
Several studies have already been able to show that the coronavirus pandemic and the infection control measures associated with it have significantly impaired many people’s mental health. Professor Ricarda Steinmayr and her team have now studied the subjective well-being especially of young children.
Comparative data from prior to the pandemic
“Other studies have already shown that subjective well-being can be effective protection against mental illness, during times of the coronavirus too,” explains Professor Steinmayr. “Since we’ve already been looking at factors influencing the subjective well-being of children and adolescents for quite some time, examining the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in this regard seemed obvious.” For this purpose, the researchers conducted surveys at four elementary schools after the first lockdown in May and June 2020, where in the course of another project they had already interviewed the students about their subjective well-being and measured it at three points in time before the start of the pandemic.
The results show that both positive mood as well as satisfaction with family life have decreased during the pandemic – and that this applies for all children irrespective of social background or gender. The findings confirm what the researchers had already assumed, as Dr. Linda Wirthwein explains: “Social relationships and experiencing self-competence at school, in sports clubs or in other extracurricular institutions are important factors for a child’s subjective well-being. This means that especially children have suffered from infection control measures such as the closure of schools or sports clubs.”
A good atmosphere at school and training measures can enhance well-being
Even if the study is based on a comparatively small sample, several recommendations for action can be derived from it, says Professor Ricarda Steinmayr: “Apart from children’s private circumstances, there are many educational variables that have a positive effect on their subjective well-being, for example a good atmosphere at school. In addition, well-being can be systematically improved through training. Since subjective well-being is very important for mental health, it is important for society not only to overcome the drop in performance caused by school closures but also to compensate for the decline in children’s well-being.”
The researchers are currently working on a study which compares the subjective well-being of adolescents before the pandemic and this year. Here, too, the data reveal a significant decline in subjective well-being, which indicates that simply opening schools and relatively normal school operations this year will not solve the problem, the researchers say.
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