A systematic review and meta-analysis on the preventive behaviors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic among children and adolescents
Date
2022
Authors
Li, Feifei
Liang, Wei
Rhodes, Ryan E.
Duan, Yanping
Wang, Xiang
Shang, Borui
Yang, Yide
Jiao, Jiao
Yang, Min
Supriya, Rashmi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC Public Health
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this review was to synthesize the empirical evidence of relevant studies related to preventive
behaviors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic among children and adolescents. Further to this, we aimed to
identify the demographic, psychological, and social and environmental correlates of such behaviors.
Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, eligible literature was identified by searching seven databases (PsycINFO,
PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO registry platform, and ClinicalTrials.gov website) and reference
list of included studies and relevant review papers from 1st
Jan 2020 to 28th
Feb 2021. The standardized mean
difference and correlation coefficients r were extracted to estimate the effect sizes. Analyses were conducted using R
software.
Results: Of the 35,271 original papers, 23 eligible studies were included in the qualitative synthesis and all these
studies were of moderate-to-high quality, of which 17 studies were further included into the quantitative analysis.
Children and adolescents (6–20 yrs.) showed a poorer practice of COVID-19 preventive behaviors compared to
younger adults (21–59 yrs.) with a small-to-medium effect size (SMD = -.25, 95%CI = -.41 to -.09). For the demographic
correlates, children and adolescents’ COVID-19 preventive practice was found to be significantly associated with
gender (r = .14, 95%CI = .10 to .18), while not with age (r = -.02, 95%CI = -.14 to .10). Narratively, knowledge was found
to be consistently and significantly correlated. For the psychological correlates, small-to-medium overall effects were
identified for the association with attitudes (r = .26, 95%CI = .21 to .31) and perceived severity (r = .16, 95%CI = .01 to
.30). For the family and social correlates, a non-significant association was identified between family economic status
and COVID-19 preventive behaviors (r = .004, 95%CI = -.12 to .12).
Conclusions: Interventions and relevant policies of promoting children and adolescent’s preventive measures
should be a priority. Further, empirical studies identifying the demographic, psychological, and family and social correlates
of children and adolescents’ preventive behaviors are needed.
Description
Keywords
Preventive behaviors, COVID-19, Children and adolescents, Demographics, Psychosocial factors, Social and environmental factors, Review and meta-analysis
Citation
Li, F., Liang, W., Rhodes, R. E., Duan, Y., Wang, X., Shang, B., . . . Yi, L. (2022). “A systematic review and meta-analysis on the preventive behaviors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic among children and adolescents.” BMC Public Health, 22(1201). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13585-z