Italy study finds kids more cranky, restless during lockdown

A survey conducted in Italy on the psychological impact of coronavirus lockdowns on children has quantified what many parents observed during weeks cooped up at home: kids were more irritable, had trouble sleeping and for some of the youngest, wept inconsolably and regressed developmentally.

Those symptoms were more pronounced in families in which the parents were particularly stressed and in families with elderly relatives at high risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19, the national survey by the Giannina Gaslini Pediatric Hospital in Genoa in conjunction with the University of Genoa finds.

Among those with children under age 6, 65% reported their children suffered behavior problems and regression. The most common problems cited were increased irritability, sleep issues and separation anxiety. Some respondents also reported their children wept inconsolably, the researchers found.

Illustrative: Children wearing protective face masks play soccer in front of their building in Rome’s neighborhood of San Basilio on April 18, 2020, during the country’s lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. (Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

Of respondents with children aged 6-18, 71% reported their children also displayed problems including anxiety and shortness of breath. Adolescents had particular trouble going to sleep and waking up, sleep disturbances that researchers termed a sort of “domestic jet lag.”

The anonymous survey of 6,800 people was conducted online March 24-April 3. The start date was two weeks into a 10-week lockdown in Italy, the first country in the West to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

— AP