Impact of Home Isolation on the Mental Health of Children and their Parents During (COVID)-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control in China

Background: The mental health status of children and their parents was significantly impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly during periods of home isolation. This study aims to assess the COVID-19 prevention and control measures, and psychological health status of children and their parents during the home isolation period in China. Methods: The study sample comprised 201 children aged 4-16 years and their parents, divided into two groups, 101 children designated as the experimental group, who had experienced home isolation in the Wuhu area from April 2022 to April 2023. The control group had 100 children and their parents who did not experience home isolation. The Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess the psychological status of the selected children, and the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) was used to evaluate the psychological health status of their parents. Results: Children who experienced home isolation had significantly higher CBCL scores (mean: 34.31) compared to those who did not (mean: 9.75), indicating that home isolation may exacerbate psychological conditions in children. Parents who experienced home isolation also had significantly higher SCL-90 scores (mean: 130.68) than those who did not (mean: 100.67), suggesting a negative impact on the psychological health status of parents. Secondary outcome analyses revealed that parents of children who experienced home isolation had higher factor coefficients in somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobia, paranoia, psychoticism, and sleep-eating subscales. Children in the experimental group also performed worse in social competence, interpersonal relationships, and academic performance as revealed in statistically significant differences, compared to those in the control group. Conclusion: Home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on the psychological health status of children and their parents, with consistent effects across different age groups and genders, and more pronounced impacts observed in females and older children above 10 years. These findings emphasize the need to consider the overall psychological health needs of families when formulating public health policies and providing psychological support services.