Reflections of the Mother's Mental Processes on the Symptoms Observed in Children During Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

In this study, it was examined whether the pandemic process triggered the emergence of behavioral / emotional symptoms that were not observed in children before and the relationship between the levels of stress and hopelessness perceived by mothers and the emergence of these symptoms as well as their children's emotional functions. In addition, the social support received by mothers, the prolongation of the quarantine process, the effects of socio-economic conditions on these variables were examined. In the study conducted with 744 mothers during the pandemic period, Perceived Stress Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale and Parent-Child Containing Function Scale: Not-Contained Relationship Subscale was applied. The findings indicate that the pandemic process significantly affects the mental processes of children and adolescents and that 58%of them have emotional and behavioral symptoms that were not observed before or increased. While 35.3%of the mothers who reported the emergence of symptoms mentioned the symptoms related to fear and loneliness, 25%stated that their children had sleep problems, 23%observed anger and irritability reactions in their children and 17%reported somatic symptoms. According to the results of the research, it is seen that there is a significant and positive correlation between not-contained mother/child relationship and occurrence of symptoms in children. In connection with these findings, the hopelessness level and perceived stress of mothers with low containing function are also high, and are also associated with the occurrence of symptoms in children. It is observed that the most important factor affecting the mental processes of the mothers is social support.

Keywords

• covid 19
• coronavirus
• pandemic
• child
• symptom