Longitudinal Associations Between Child and Family Factors With Korean Children’s Subjective Happiness Before and During COVID-19 in Late Childhood

Objectives: This study investigated the trajectories of subjective happiness among children aged 8-13, assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and identified child- and family-level predictors of variations in happiness. Methods: Drawing on 5855 person-years of data from the nationally representative Panel Study on Korean Children, we employed longitudinal multilevel modeling to examine trends, including those during the pandemic period, and to estimate the influence of child- and family-level predictors. Sex differences were analyzed using interaction terms and stratified analyses. Results: The study revealed a significant negative temporal trend in children's subjective happiness from ages 8 to 13 years, with a sharp decline associated with the onset of the pandemic in 2020 (b=-1.524, p<0.001). Regarding child-level predictors, male sex, sleep duration, subjective health, and number of friends were positive predictors. Maternal education was a positive family-level predictor, whereas maternal stress was a negative predictor. In terms of sex differences, the happiness levels of both males and females remained significantly below the pre-pandemic levels. Overweight/obesity, sleep duration, maternal education level, and paternal subjective health were significant predictors among females but not among males. Conclusion: Although we found a decline in happiness with age, we confirmed that COVID-19 had a significant impact on children's subjective happiness. Our findings underscore the need to identify the key predictors of happiness and to consider proactive strategies to prepare for future infectious disease outbreaks.