CONFEADO: A Study That Gives Children a Voice

As part of the measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic, all schools in France were closed starting Monday, March 16, 2020. This measure affected several million students, who were confined to their homes for several weeks. How did they experience this unusual period, and what strategies did they use to cope?

To answer this question, Santé publique France is launching the CONFEADO study, in partnership with Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm, the University of Tours, CN2R, EHESS, the Lab School Network, and the CNRS, with support from the FHF Fund.

This study aims to understand how children and adolescents aged 9 to 16 experienced the lockdown up until May 11, 2020, and how it may have impacted their well-being. It will enable recommendations to be made to public authorities to support children and adolescents during this period of reopening and the return to school.

Objectives

• Assess the emotional state and resilience of children during lockdown and the easing of restrictions based on their living conditions during this period

• To assess, for the children involved, the presence of any post-traumatic stress disorder in cases where a close relative was hospitalized due to COVID-19

Who can participate in the study?

All children aged 9 to 16 and one of their parents

How to participate in the study?

Those wishing to participate in the CONFEADO study can complete an online questionnaire. The questionnaire is intended:

• first to parents, who provide information about their children’s living conditions and home environment during lockdown (duration: less than 5 minutes),

• then to the children, who answer a series of questions themselves (time: less than 30 minutes).

Results

Preliminary results

Disparities in mental health are observed, typically found according to age and gender, with mental health more severely impacted among adolescents (13–18 years old) than among children (9–12 years old) and more severely impacted among girls than among boys.

The results also highlight a clear social divide during the first lockdown. Indeed, the children and adolescents who experienced greater distress were those from more vulnerable families (single-parent families, with lower educational attainment, more blue-collar or white-collar workers, foreign-born, and socially isolated) and exposed to:

• difficult housing conditions (confined in urban areas, in an apartment or house without a yard, without access to an outdoor space in the home, overcrowded housing with no possibility of isolation),

• difficult economic conditions (financial and food insecurity, parental unemployment prior to lockdown, reduced income due to the pandemic, and lack of internet access),

These children and adolescents suffered more from a lack of activity during lockdown: fewer outings, heavy screen time with more time spent daily on social media, less contact with friends, and fewer recreational activities with adults. These children were more overwhelmed by homework than others. Psychological distress was also influenced by the infection and hospitalization of a loved one due to COVID-19.

The most resilient children were those who did not experience distress during lockdown, had better living conditions—including outdoor activities, contact with friends, moderate social media use, and daily recreational activities with adults.

• See the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH) No. 8, COVID-19 series, dated May 20, 2021.

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Information regarding data use

All responses are anonymous, confidential, and used solely for public health research. Paris 13 University and Santé publique France are jointly responsible for the processing of personal data. This processing is based on the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.