Original Article   

Minerva Pediatrics 2022 Jul 04

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-5276.22.06891-4

Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The pandemic seen through the eyes of the youngest people: evaluating psychological impact of the early COVID-19 related confinement on children and adolescents through the analysis of drawings and of an e-survey on their parents

Sonia DI PROFIO ¹✉, Sara UCCELLA ^{2, 3, 4} ✉, Paola CIMELLARO ¹, Alessandra BIOLCATI RINALDI ¹, Maria D’APRUZZO ¹, Serena REBORA ¹, Ludovica PRIMAVERA ¹, Alice ZANETTI ¹, Sara DE GIUSEPPE ¹, Sabrina ROBOTTI ¹, Camilla SACANNA ¹, Chiara PERICO ¹, Deborah PREITI ^{1, 3, 4}, Lino NOBILI ^{2, 3}, Angela PISTORIO ⁵, Cristina VENTURINO ¹

¹ Clinical Psychology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy; ² Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, and Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; ³ Unit of Child Neuropsychiatry, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy; ⁴ Unit of Neonatology, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy; ⁵ Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is having a significant impact on long term children’ and adolescents’ psychological health. We aimed to evaluate the direct early psychological and behavioural signs related to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and related confinement on children and adolescents.
METHODS: Children and adolescents’ drawings were collected for a limited time window (16th March-10th April 2020) and analyzed. Their parents were asked in the following month to answer a qualitative e-survey on somatic complaints and behavioral changes of the participating children/adolescents.
RESULTS: Ninety-eight drawings by children/adolescents (mean age 7.01±2.83 years) were analysed. Analyses of the 98 drawings reported signs of trauma in all (of them, 60.2% with moderate-to high levels). Children aged 3-5 years were more impacted, followed by preadolescents/adolescents aged 11-17 years. Parents reported somatic complaints in the 71.1% of their children/adolescents: the most frequent were increased appetite (35.6%), abdominal pain (20.0%) and headache (20.0%). Behavioral changes were observed in 77.8% of subjects: increased appetite (35.6%), abdominal pain (20.0%) and headache (20.0%) were more represented.
CONCLUSIONS: Early psychological distress related to COVID-19 pandemic was observed both in children and in adolescents by the analysis of drawings and confirmed by their parents. Implementation of mental health-care services for preventing future psychopathological problems is mandatory.

KEY WORDS: Sars-Cov-2; Psychological distress; Children and adolescents; Drawings; E-survey; Traumatic experiences