As we battle the deadly coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown to curtail its spread, the world has also come to believe in the new normal. Despite the anxiety and the feeling of uncertainty, there’s still a level of comfort knowing we’re in this together. However, the summer has also meant that as most of us globally work from home, kids stuck at home with their parents have been getting antsy to get out of home, go to the playground or follow any other recreational activities.
A national survey of the psychological impact of coronavirus lockdowns on Italian children has quantified what many parents noticed offhand during weeks cooped up at home: Their kids were more irritable, had trouble sleeping and for some of the youngest, wept inconsolably and regressed developmentally.
The survey, conducted by the Giannina Gaslini Pediatric Hospital in Genoa in conjunction with the University of Genoa, found those symptoms were more acute in families where the parents themselves were particularly stressed.
Italy’s health ministry on Tuesday released the results of the anonymous survey of 6,800 people, which was conducted March 24-April 3. The start date was two weeks into a 10-week lockdown in the onetime European epicenter of the outbreak,
Italy was the first country in the West to be hit hard by COVID-19. It has reported 237,000 infections and 34,371 virus-related deaths but many suspect the true toll is higher due to the many people who died without getting tested.
Nearly 100 days in lockdown and the normalcy of our new routines, it might be a prudent idea to get your kids to help out at home with daily chores, or make time to keep them engaged or revive the art of board games and reading together and build your relationship in a more fruitful manner.
— with inputs from Associated Press
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