In the Spring of 2020, the pandemic originated by the coronavirus outbreak (SARS-CoV-2), changed our lives substantially. On March 14, aiming to stop its rapid spread, the confinement of the Spanish population was imposed, lasting, in its most restrictive phase, to the end of April. In a short period of time, families and children had to adapt to a new reality, modifying their daily social routines and altering their personal relational spaces. In these circumstances, the UNDERISK group developed a new line of research focused in the analysis of the general effects of the COVID-19 crisis, and confinement in particular, on children and their families.
Effects of Confinement on Families and Children (CONFIA-20)
Main objective
To analyze the effects of confinement on children and their families, considering both potential negative and positive consequences, and modeling the individual and psychosocial underlying processes explaining the individual differences observed in response to the crisis.
Specific objectives
- To analyze the behavioral, emotional and social effects of confinement on children, including both negative (e.g., behavioral problems) and positive outcomes (e.g., prosocial involvement).
- To examine children’s and families’ resources and strategies to cope with the demands of the confinement and the health crisis.
- To identify specific contextual factors (e.g., number of close contagions or COVID-19 related deaths, financial difficulties derived from job loss, etc.) contributing to potentially amplify or reduce the effects of the confinement on children.
- To analyze the effects of the crisis on the family domain (e.g., emotional, occupational disruption) as well as specific parenting practices in this situation, integrating them in a comprehensive model to explain the changes in children behavior derived from the confinement.
- To examine to which extent, temperament and psychosocial factors early assessed are predictive of a better adaptation to the confinement.
Initial sample
On April of 2020, temporarily coinciding with the most restrictive phase of confinement, data was collected on a sample of 1123 children aged 3-12. Most of the participating families lived in Galicia (94.25%) and the remaining were from other Spanish regions (e.g., Madrid, Barcelona, Cantabria or Zamora). It was possible to link part of the CONFIA-20 research line with the ELISA Project . Thus, new data regarding the effects of the confinement in more than 700 families participating in the ELISA project was also collected.
Participants (informants)
In both data collection, data was parent-reported, specifically mother-reported for the 89.5%of the cases. The questionnaire was available via an online platform and was composed by multiple sections in which families informed of their particular situation during the confinement, the effects of the confinement on children, specific parenting practices displayed or their perception of the consequences of this situation on children’s further development.
