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Social connectedness at the playground before and after COVID-19 school closure.

Adva EichengreenYung-Ting TsouMaedeh NasriLisa-Maria van KlaverenBoya LiAlexander KoutamanisMitra BaratchiEls Blijd-HoogewysJoost KokCarolien Rieffe
Published in: Journal of applied developmental psychology (2023)
Social connectedness at school is crucial to children's development, yet very little is known about the way it has been affected by school closures during COVID-19 pandemic. We compared pre-post lockdown levels of social connectedness at a school playground in forty-three primary school-aged children, using wearable sensors, observations, peer nominations and self-reports. Upon school reopening, findings from sensors and peer nominations indicated increases in children's interaction time, network diversity and network centrality. Group observations indicated a decrease in no-play social interactions and an increase in children's involvement in social play. Explorative analyses did not reveal relations between changes in peer connectedness and pre-lockdown levels of peer connectedness or social contact during the lockdown period. Findings pointed at the role of recess in contributing to children's social well-being and the importance of attending to their social needs upon reopening.
Keyphrases
  • mental health
  • physical activity
  • healthcare
  • young adults
  • emergency department
  • gene expression
  • dna methylation
  • high school
  • respiratory syndrome coronavirus