Influência de fatores parentais em sintomas de ansiedade e depressão em crianças e adolescentes durante a pandemia de COVID-19

Abstract

Prolonged school closures and home confinement during a disease outbreak can have negative effects on children's physical and mental health, making the role of parents for their well-being even more crucial. However, we still know little about the influence of parental variables on the mental health of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aimed to compare anxiety and depression symptoms of children and adolescents during the 1st and 2nd confinement in Portugal, analyzing the influence of some parental predictors on these symptoms, and to verify the existence of a moderating effect of gender and age of children and adolescents on these relationships.To this end, a longitudinal study was carried out, with data collection at two moments: at the end of the 1st confinement (T1) and during the 2nd confinement (T2). The questionnaire was made available on the online platform Qualtrics, to a sample of parents of 442 children and adolescents at T1 and 182 children and adolescents at T2 (longitudinal sample, n= 39 children/adolescents). Results showed an increase in parents' perceived severity of pandemic COVID-19 for their and their family's well-being from the 1st confinement to the 2nd confinement and confirmed perceived stress as a statistically significant predictor of child and adolescent anxiety in the 1st confinement and depression in the 1st and 2nd confinement. However, the moderating role of gender and age of children and adolescents was not confirmed, although a main effect of age was found, in which there is a tendency for symptomatology to increase with age. To conclude with this dissertation, it was possible to verify perceived stress as a predictor of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents and to evaluate the need for future investigations with larger longitudinal and representative samples of the population in question.

Date of Award	21 Dec 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cristina Godinho (Supervisor)