Swedish research team, “even preschoolers are afraid of Corona 19”

Children aged 4 to 6 also fear COVID-19 and are stressed by the pandemic, they found.

Sweden has tried to avoid closing schools even when many European countries have imposed lockdowns. During the first Corona 19 pandemic, middle and high school students in Sweden held remote classes, but most schools up to 9th grade were open for on-site classes. However, the Swedish Institute for Children’s Rights (BRIS) reported that child helplines increased by 16% during the first year of the pandemic, anxiety-related calls by 16% and grief-related calls by 55%.

Anna Sarkady, professor of public health at Uppsala University in Sweden, recently analyzed 91 paintings and drawings submitted to the Swedish Children’s Art Archive between April 2020 and February 2021 to investigate how COVID-19 has affected pre-school children in Sweden . I analyzed his description.

Sarkadi told Fortune magazine, “People thought that pre-school children had not gone through much change before and after the pandemic,” adding, “But they were also aware of the seriousness of the situation.”

The research team visually reviewed the pictures collected and analyzed and classified what the children’s consciousness represented in the pictures and descriptions. Then, by combining the semiotic visual analysis results and the description content analysis results, the content or meaning hidden in the picture was classified by topic.

As a result of the study, children were aware of the reality that they could become seriously ill or die from COVID-19. In general, it is not until the age of 5-7 that children understand the general concept that all living things die and that life ceases to function at death. However, in this study, 4- to 6-year-olds also expressed their concerns about the health of their elderly relatives in pictures.

Children’s paintings could largely be classified into three themes. ▲ Realization of virus threat ▲ Reduction in quality of life ▲ Global transmission and infection of the virus.

Children assigned attributes such as ‘stupid/bad/nasty’ to invisible viruses. In addition, it was found that the threat of the virus is greatly felt by placing the virus in the center of the picture or drawing it in a large size. Some children said that ‘Corona can eat every child’ or ‘Grandma is being taken by a monster’.

In the picture, the rule to prevent infectious diseases, ‘keep your distance from others and refrain from hugging’, was well expressed. In addition, the children were aware of the fact that they could not take part in their favorite activities or trips and expressed negative feelings about them. In addition, emotions such as loneliness, anger, fear, boredom, anxiety, worry about losing their grandfather and grandmother were expressed.

Children expressed symptoms of COVID-19 such as a runny nose or cough. In particular, they seem to understand well that the virus can be transmitted through the hands. It was also known that the spread of infectious diseases was happening all over the world.

The research team said that the level of health literacy related to Corona 19 in preschool children is surprisingly high, and that we should try to provide appropriate health information to young children. And he noted that even in other countries that have experienced strict lockdown measures, there is no guarantee that children under 4 will not be affected by COVID-19.

The study was published in Acta Paediatrica, an international journal in the field of paediatrics and child health. (Title of the paper: Perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic as shown in pictures of Swedish children aged 4-6)