Psychological impact of confinement due to COVID-19 in Spanish children: a cross-sectional study

Confinement by COVID-19 and associated stress can affect children's well-being. Due to the recent nature of this situation, related studies are limited. The main objective of this paper was to describe the extent to which the confinement situation affected children's behavior, sleep problems and emotional well-being. A second objective was to identify protective variables that could serve to mitigate possible negative effects of the situation on children. A third objective was to study the possible relationship between parents' perception of severity and controllability and negative reactions in their children. The sample was composed of 113 Spanish participants (70.5% women) with children between 3 and 12 years old (51.8% children). The parents answered an online questionnaire about their children's routines during quarantine, their emotional well-being, sleep problems and their behavioral. The 69.6% of the parents reported that, during confinement, their children presented negative emotional reactions, 31.3% sleep problems and 24.1% behavioral problems. Children who invested less time in physical exercise and made more use of screens had a greater number of negative reactions. Children with parents who made greater use of safety measures presented fewer negative reactions. The perception of risk and the seriousness of the situation due to COVID-19 were not related to the reactions of the children. The data suggest that regular physical exercise and limiting daily screen use may benefit children's mental health in situations of isolation.