Emotional and behavioral problems and determinants among primary and middle school students aged 6 to 17year-old in Guangdong Province during the COVID-19 pandemic / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To gain a better understanding of the emotional and behavioral problems associated determinants of primary and middle school students from Guangdong Province during the COVID-19 pandemic, so as to provide a basis for developing targeted intervention strategies.@*Methods@#Using the method of convenience sampling, an online questionnaire survey was carried out among primary and middle school students from Guangzhou, Zhanjiang and Zhongshan from March to April 2020. The emotional and behavioral problems of primary and middle school students were assessed using the Conners Parental Symptoms Questionnaire(PSQ), and a self compiled questionnaire was used to collect basic information related to the primary and middle school students and the influencing factors of emotional and behavioral problems. A total of 7 755 valid questionnaires were retrieved and statistically analyzed using the chi square test and multivariate Logistic regression.@*Results@#The detection rate of emotional and behavioral problems among children and adolescents aged 6 to 17-years-old in Guangdong Province was 14.8%; that was 21.0%, 14.4%, 7.3 %, and 10.1% in lower primary school students, upper primary school students, junior high school students, and high school students, respectively. The detection rate of the psychosomatic and hyperactivity index in boys was higher than that observed in girls, and the detection rate of anxiety in boys was lower than that observed in girls( P <0.05). There were statistically significant differences in emotional and behavioral problems in children in different grades( P <0.05). The results of the regression analysis showed that male students were at risk of psychosomatic ( OR= 1.37 , 95%CI =1.04-1.82) and hyperactivity disorders( OR=1.58, 95%CI =1.21-2.06), whereas the male gender was a protective factor for anxiety( OR=0.50, 95%CI =0.39-0.64). Grades were identified as the influencing factors of all of the factors related to emotional and behavioral problems. Students who reported excessive screen time and insufficient sleep were more likely to experience emotional and behavioral problems.@*Conclusion@#The detection rate of emotional and behavioral problems among primary and middle school students in Guangdong Province during the COVID-19 epidemic was high, which was associated with sex, grade, screen time and sleep. It is necessary to develop and implement targeted intervention measures.