Anxiety symptom and its associates among primary school students in Hubei province during novel coronavirus diseases 2019 epidemic

  Objective  To investigate the status and influencing factors of anxiety symptoms among primary school students in Hubei province during the epidemic of coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19), and to provide evidences for developing interventions on mental health of the students.

  Methods  Using random cluster sampling, we recruited 1 270 grade 2 – 6 pupils and their parents at two primary schools in Wuhan and Huangshi city, Hubei province and conducted an online survey from February 28th to March 5th, 2020. A self-designed questionnaire, the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) for the pupils, and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) for the pupils′ parents were adopted in the study.

  Results  Among 1 264 pupils with valid information, 234 (18.5%) were identified with anxiety symptoms. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that being girl student, parental anxiety and parents′ dissatisfaction to children′s school record were risk factors for anxiety symptoms of the students; while close parent-child relationship, students′ correct protective behaviors and not worrying about suffering from the disease were the protective factors against anxiety symptoms.

  Conclusion  Anxiety symptom is prevalent among primary school students in Hubei province during the COVID-19 epidemic and the anxiety symptom is mainly influenced by gender, parental anxiety, status of parental satisfaction to children′s school record, parent-child relationship, whether conducting correct protection, and whether being worried about suffering from the disease.