Associations between Self-esteem, Social Support, Family Empowerment, and Health Empowerment among Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: This study aimed to identify associations between self-esteem, social support, family empowerment, and health empowerment among children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among fifth- to sixth-grade children and their parents who were recruited from C elementary school in Gangwon-do, South Korea. The health empowerment, self-esteem, and social support as reported by children were measured by the Korean version of Health Empowerment Scale (K-HES), Self-Esteem Scale, and Perceived Social Support, respectively. The family empowerment as reported by parents of children was measured by the Family Empowerment Scale. Linear regression analysis was performed. Results: Of the participants, children’s self-esteem (β=.46, p<.001) and social support (β=.47, p<.001) and parents’ family empowerment (β=.27, p=.008) were significantly and positively associated with children’s health empowerment. Conclusion: Among children in health-vulnerable environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, establishing interventions for improving health empowerment needs to be considered as a nursing strategy for self-esteem, social support, and family empowerment at the intrapersonal and interpersonal levels.