Children mental health in Bandung during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

A significant threat to mental health emerged in children during COVID-19. This study aims to identify the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of children in Bandung while studying at home. The cross-sectional study was conducted online from August 28 to September 4, 2020, among 426 parents who had at least one child aged 5 to 15 years. Moreover, K-means clustering was used to group 4 categories based on mental health disturbances, and confirmation factors analysis was performed to identify the relationship between parenting behaviour and children's mental health, then assessed by the chi-square test. Children were divided into four groups, in which 52% had sub-threshold mental disorders (mean Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)-10; 2.45), 32% had a mild (mean MDD-10; 5.31), 13% had a moderate (mean MDD-10; 12.5), and 3% of the children had severe (mean MDD-10; 15.3). The percentage of mental disorders in children is higher in children with a higher educational level of the parents, families contracted COVID-19 and abnormal behaviour of the parents. This paper shows the low proportion of children suffering from mental disorders in Bandung during the pandemic. Applying psychological intervention strategies and improving household financial conditions, parenting literacy, childcare and job security can all help improve children's psychological status.