Psychiatric symptoms in children with COVID-19, mothers’ psychological resilience and related factors: pandemic hospital inpatient experiences

Abstract

Background. Information on psychological problems and affecting factors in children hospitalized with the suspicion or diagnosis of COVID-19 is limited. We aimed to screen the psychiatric symptoms of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ankara City Children’s Hospital and evaluate the caregivers’ depression, anxiety, stress, and resilience levels during hospitalization. Methods. Among the children and adolescents hospitalized in Ankara City Children’s Hospital between 1 May 2020 and 31 May 2020 due to the diagnosis of COVID-19, those who agreed to participate in the study were included. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS21) scale, and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) were used to determine the symptoms. Results. The mean age of study group (n = 49) was 8.7 ± 5.0 years, 59.2% (n = 29) were girls. The mean children’s SDQ-externalizing problems scores were higher in the COVID-19 positive mothers group than the COVID-19 negative mothers’ group. The SDQ-total score was positively and strongly correlated with the DASS total score, DASS-depression score, and DASS-anxiety score. BRS scale scores were negatively correlated with the SDQtotal, externalizing, and DASS-21scale scores. Conclusions. COVID-19 positivity in mothers could be associated with externalizing problems in children. The high resilience of caregivers of inpatients seems to be related to less psychopathology in children. During hospitalization, caregivers’ psychological evaluation and psychosocial support may be important for preventive child mental health.