Parents’ depression and anxiety associated with hyperactivity-inattention and emotional symptoms in children during school closure due to COVID-19 in France

Maëva Monnier (1, 2) , Flore Moulin (1) , Marion Bailhache (1, 3) , Xavier Thierry (4, 5) , Stéphanie Vandentorren (1, 6) , Sylvana M. Côté (1, 2, 7) , Bruno Falissard (8, 9) , Thierry Simeon (4, 5) , Bertrand Geay (4, 5) , Laetitia Marchand-Martin (10) , Marie Noëlle Dufourg (4, 5) , Marie Aline Charles (4, 5, 10) , Pierre Yves Ancel (10) , Maria Melchior (11) , Alexandra Rouquette (8, 9) , Cédric Galera (1, 2, 7)

1 BPH - Bordeaux population health
2 Centre hospitalier Charles Perrens [Bordeaux]
3 CHU Bordeaux
4 INED - Institut national d'études démographiques
5 EFS
6 Santé publique France - French National Public Health Agency [Saint-Maurice, France]
7 UdeM - Université de Montréal
8 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations
9 Hôpital Bicêtre [AP-HP, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre]
10 CRESS (U1153 / UMR_A 1125) - Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Statistics | Centre de Recherche Épidémiologie et Statistiques
11 iPLESP - Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique

Several risk factors of children’s mental health issues have been identified during the pandemic of COronaVIrus Disease first appeared in 2019 (COVID-19). This study aims to fill the knowledge gap regarding the association between parents’ and children’s mental health issues during the COVID-19 school closure in France. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data collected in the SAPRIS-ELFE study during the COVID-19 pandemic in France. Using multinomial logistic regressions, we estimated associations between parents’ and children’s mental health issues. Symptoms of anxiety were assessed by the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and depression by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for the parents. Hyperactivity/inattention and emotional symptoms in children were assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The sample included 3496 children aged 8 to 9 years, of whom 50.0% were girls. During the school closure, 7.1% of responding parents had moderate to severe levels of anxiety and 6.7% had moderate to severe levels of depression. A total of 11.8% of the children had an abnormal hyperactivity/inattention score and 6.6% had an abnormal emotional symptoms score. In multivariate regression models, parental moderate to severe level of anxiety and moderate to severe level of depression were associated with abnormal hyperactivity-inattention score (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 3.31; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 2.33–4.70 and aOR 4.65; 95% CI 3.27–6.59, respectively) and abnormal emotional symptoms score in children (aOR 3.58; 95% CI 2.33–5.49 and aOR 3.78; 95 CI 2.47–5.78 respectively). Children whose parents have symptoms of anxiety and/or depression have an increased likelihood of symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention and emotional symptoms during school closures in France due to COVID-19. Our findings suggest that public health initiatives should target parents and children to limit the impact of such crises on their mental health issues.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Maëva Monnier, Flore Moulin, Marion Bailhache, Xavier Thierry, Stéphanie Vandentorren, et al.. Parents’ depression and anxiety associated with hyperactivity-inattention and emotional symptoms in children during school closure due to COVID-19 in France. Scientific Reports, 2023, 13 (1), pp.4863. ⟨10.1038/s41598-023-31985-y⟩. ⟨hal-04069276⟩