COVID-19, Digital Media, and Health| Children’s and Parents’ Worries About Online Schooling Associated With Children’s Anxiety During Lockdown in Ireland

Authors

  • Derek A. Laffan Dublin City University
  • Seffetullah Kuldas University of Oslo
  • Beatrice Sciacca Dublin City University
  • James O'Higgins Norman Dublin City University
  • Tijana Milosevic Dublin City University

Keywords:

technology, children’s worry, parents’ worry, anxiety, emergency online schooling

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has persisted as a worrying time for children who have been using technology for online schooling during lockdown and their parents. This study investigates the extent of children’s and parents’ self-reported worries associated with children’s anxiety during lockdown in Ireland. Data for 461 children and 461 parents were analyzed from the Ireland dataset obtained as part of the Kids’ Digital Lives in COVID-19 Times (KiDiCoTi) international survey. Children reported worries about keeping up with school activities online, getting poor grades, and completing their schoolwork online. Parents reported worries about COVID-19 having a negative influence on their children’s education and their children being exposed to more online risks. Children’s worries about school explained much of the variance of their anxiety to a significant degree, whereas parents’ worries explained that variance to a lesser extent. Implications of these results are discussed in the article.

Author Biographies

Derek A. Laffan, Dublin City University

Research Assistant

Seffetullah Kuldas, University of Oslo

Dr. Seffetullah Kuldas: Seffetullah Kuldas is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow, as a holder of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Individual Fellowships (MSCA–IF), at the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo. He works on the project about Ethnicity-Based Parenting for Children’s Internet Use (funded by Horizon 2020, the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation)

Beatrice Sciacca, Dublin City University

Beatrice Sciacca, MSc, is a Research Assistant at DCU Anti-Bullying Centre (Dublin City University). Her research focuses on children’s and adolescents’ Internet use and parental mediation practices. She is also interested in consensual and non-consensual sexting among adolescents and its correlation with mental health

James O'Higgins Norman, Dublin City University

Professor James O'Higgins Norman is the UNESCO Chair on Bullying and Cyberbullying and Centre Director of the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre, Dublin City University, Ireland.

Tijana Milosevic, Dublin City University

 Dr Tijana Milosevic is an Elite-S Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (MSCA COFUND programme), jointly appointed with ABC and ADAPT SFI, focusing on social media policies and digital media use among children and youth.

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Published

2023-01-10

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