The Wellbeing of Children and Workers in Belgian French-Speaking Primary Schools After The COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis

Author(s): Kelly Cremer, Olga Chatzis, Julie Frère, Ricardo De Mendonca, Benoît Kabamba, Florence Renard, Mathilde De Keukeleire, Dimitri Van der Linden, Annie Robert

During the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, many measures were taken around the world to limit the SARS-CoV-2 transmission that disrupted people’s day-to-day lives in many ways. Unfortunately, most of these measures had detrimental consequences, such as isolation, misinformation, fear, and violence, inducing a loss of wellbeing for many people. One of the most vulnerable groups to these pandemic consequences was children. We conducted a study to assess children and staff wellbeing in French-speaking primary schools in Belgium after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. A 37-question questionnaire based on the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) was used for each child and a 14-question questionnaire based on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) was used for each staff to assess their wellbeing. The three-drawing method was used to assess children’s representation of wellbeing before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. A total of 282 children and 33 staff answered the wellbeing questionnaire. 63% of children (174/276) had symptoms of anxiety, and 38% (104/282) had a definite state of anxiety. 65% of children (178/276) had symptoms of social desirability, and 55% (151/276) had a definite state of social desirability. The wellbeing representation was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during and after the pandemic. Very few staff accepted to participate in the study. A total of 102 children created drawings. The representation of children’s wellbeing in their drawings showed that the pandemic had had an impact on their life, which was reflected in different ways in the drawings during the pandemic, such as isolation, negative content, negative facial expressions, or sadness. After the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the wellbeing of children remained affected; anxiety was still as high as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Particular attention must be devoted to children as a vulnerable group, to avoid consequences in the long term.

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