1. Introduction
The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic in March 2020. To slow down this transmission, many countries took strict socio-sanitary measures that have affected the lifestyles of millions of people and children, not being able to continue carrying out activities like the ones they did until confinement [
1]. Thus, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 led to the establishment of a period of confinement, and families were forced to restrict movement and social contacts with the consequent risk of inactivity [
2,
3]. More than 90% of children were affected by the restriction of movement to curb the transmission of the new coronavirus that culminated in the closure of all educational and social activities [
4], which significantly affected families [
5].
Parental and family factors influence many aspects of their children’s lives, including their level of Physical Activity (PA) [
6]. The COVID-19 lockdown measures resulted in children and adolescents staying and learning at home [
7]. With schools closed, the frequency with which parents conducted literacy activities at home with their children and the sociodemographic variables that influence this collaboration are unknown [
8].
Confinement can have short- and long-term impacts on people’s mental health and quality of life. Knowing what factors cause stress can benefit the development of strategies and resources for future situations [
9,
10]. The effects of COVID-19 containment measures on children’s emotional and behavioral development are not sufficiently clear [
11]. Therefore, the negative impact of confinement on the emotions and behavioral aspects of children highlights the need for strategic approaches, especially for those most susceptible due to environmental factors and pre-existing emotional problems [
11].
Approximately 35.1% of the parents reported that the psychological health of their children was considerably affected. The most important concern was social isolation [
12], as well as unemployment, the increase in family conflicts, the lack of opportunities for teleworking and the deterioration of the psychological health of the parents that can cause deterioration in the conditions physical and mental health of children and adolescents [
12].
Since COVID-19 dramatically changed human social life, restrictive lockdown periods to curb the spread of the virus were found to particularly affect the psychological well-being of children and their families [
13]. For its part, technological media are present in many homes establishing changes in social communication and lifestyle [
14]; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the deep digital divide and the enormous challenge its education system faces in continuing to teach students during the lockdown [
15].
Due to the above, this study was proposed to verify the influence of the educational level of the parents on the behavior of children aged 3 to 12 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, both in Ibero-American and European countries. The objective was to analyze the tasks to which children between 3 and 12 years of age dedicated their time.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Participants
For this study, a descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional design was used, with a single measurement for a single group. This study was conducted by the Universities of Jaén, Coruña and Granada. The sample consisted of 2316 children aged between 3 and 12 years (M = 7.70; SD = 2.86). The sampling was for convenience, inviting families with children in the Early Childhood and Primary education stage to participate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding gender, the distribution of the sample was homogeneous, representing 52.4% boys (
n = 1214) and 47.6% girls (
n = 1102). Specifically, 54.7% (
n = 1268) of the sample represented Europe and 45.3% (
n = 1048) Ibero-America. However,
Table 1 provides the distribution according to the countries that participated.
2.2. Variables and Instruments
A self-prepared questionnaire (ad-hoc) was used to record the sex and age of the children, the origin of the responses (Europe and Ibero-America) and the level of education of the parents (categorized into “basic education”, “medium education”, “higher studies” and “postgraduate”). The questionnaire on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (TIC-H2019) prepared by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) following the recommendations of the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT) was used to know the means and technological resources that families had at home during confinement, as well as the time of use, expressed in minutes, of children under 12 years of age.
Due to the influence of lifestyle on indoor activities during confinement, parents indicated the time expressed in minutes that their children spent on daily activities such as PA practice, household chores, playing instruments, artistic activities, household chores, playing with the family, reading and playing freely. For the degree of psychosocial well-being, a Likert-type scale with 10 response options was used (where 1 = “null” and 10 = “extreme maximum”). The degree of happiness, energy, tiredness/fatigue, self-esteem and creativity during confinement was recorded, allowing the sum of the state in general to be established, as well as the mean values of a degree of positive and negative psychosocial well-being.
2.3. Procedure
Through the Google Forms platform, a questionnaire called “Boys, girls and confinement” was created. Electronic information was disseminated through social networks, in order to reach the population under study (relatives residing in Europe and Ibero-America with children under 12 years of age), as well as contacting various education professionals who had access to sufficient families to ensure good dissemination of the instrument. The questionnaire was activated during the various confinement periods established in Ibero-America and Europe.
Out of a total of 2598 responses, a total of 237 (9.12%) questionnaires were eliminated because they were not correctly filled in or belonged to another educational stage. Thus, the final sample consisted of 2316 children. By completing the form, all participants gave their consent to work with the data anonymously. Throughout the investigation, the ethical principles reflected in different documents and official treaties on research ethics were taken into account, thus, guaranteeing the anonymity of the participants, the confidentiality of the data reflected in the questionnaires and other ethical considerations related to the investigation research in education [
16,
17].
2.4. Analysis of Data
A descriptive analysis is conducted to determine the sociodemographic characteristics and behaviors during the pandemic, applying means (M), standard deviations (SD) and frequencies (%). Likewise, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was performed to determine the normality and homogeneity of the variance in the variables. To establish the differences between the variables, the Student’s t-test was used for independent samples and the one-factor ANOVA, using Pearson’s Chi-square statistical indicator, to establish the differences. The statistical software SPSS 25.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA) was used for data analysis and treatment.
3. Results
Table 2 establishes the parameters related to the number of technological devices in relation to the area of residence of the participants, for which statistically significant results were obtained (
p ≤ 0.05). We found that the European participants used more video consoles (M= 0.89 ± 1.33) and tablets (M = 1.30 ± 0.95), while the Ibero-Americans were the ones who obtained higher values in the use of TVs (M= 2.28 ± 1.10).
For
Table 3, the differences were recorded according to the area of residence, taking into account the time spent using technological devices and daily actions conducted during confinement. Statistically significant relationships were also obtained for these results (
p ≤ 0.05). In European areas, higher values were manifested in the time spent performing PA (M = 36.97 ± 34.36), use of tablets (M = 30.61 ± 48.53), school task performance (M = 117.16 ± 84.05), artistic activities (M = 53.18 ± 48.32), playing with the family (M = 86.21 ± 65.55), reading (M = 29.39 ± 21.05), free play (M = 99.53 ± 77.40) and hours of sleep (M = 9.60 ±7.21). While in Ibero-America, there were longer times in the use of video consoles (M = 27.98 ± 55.74), computers (M = 47.29 ± 75.43), mobile phone (M = 47.18 ± 75.76) and performing domestic tasks (M = 25.96 ± 31.14).
In addition, the relationship between the state of psychosocial well-being and the area of residence was established (
Table 4), for which significant differences of
p ≤ 0.05 were obtained. Ibero-American participants presented higher levels for a negative state in psychosocial well-being (M = 7.29 ± 1.07) and in tiredness/fatigue (M = 4.34 ± 2.44). While the European subjects showed higher mean values for the creativity dimension (M = 7.88 ± 1.94).
Considering the place of residence,
Table 5 and
Table 6 analyze the number of devices according to the level of education of the parents. After establishing statistically significant relationships (
p ≤ 0.05) for European subjects, we found that parents with basic education had a greater number of televisions (M = 2.51 ± 1.19), while parents with medium education had more video consoles (M = 1.07 ± 1.72). Finally, those who had postgraduate education reported having more computers (M = 2.48 ± 1.25) and tablets (M = 1.47 ± 1.11). However, in Ibero-America, parents with postgraduate education presented the highest mean values for all devices: televisions (M = 2.47 ± 1.18), game consoles (M= 0.98 ± 1.23), computers (M = 2.34 ± 1.15) and tablets (M = 1.15± 0.97).
Table 7 and
Table 8 analyze the relationships between the time spent using technological devices and actions conducted during confinement in relation to the level of education of the parents and the area of residence. Considering the European parents, statistically significant differences were obtained (
p≤ 0.05). Those children whose parents had a basic education level spend longer time using the mobile phone, expressed in minutes of use per day (M = 30.24 ± 59.73). As for those with an average level of education, they obtained higher values in the time spent watching television (M = 92.84 ± 64.07), development of artistic tasks (M = 60.65 ± 51.12) and domestic tasks (M = 26.02 ± 20.23). Likewise, the subjects with postgraduate education stated that their children used the computer more (M = 46.82 ± 74.68) and obtained more hours of sleep (M = 9.72 ± 1.20).
In the case of Ibero-America, statistically significant differences were also obtained (p ≤ 0.05). Parents with a basic level of education presented the lowest levels in all the study variables, except for the time dedicated to domestic tasks. Although, differences compared to the Europeans were perceived, since the parents with higher education presented the highest mean values in the practice of PA (M = 27.24 ± 30.02), use of the mobile phone (M = 50.02 ± 79.35), school task performance (M = 111.78 ± 83.95), time dedicated to playing musical instruments (M = 8.22 ± 19.07), reading (M = 23.08 ± 26.89) and free play (M = 87.50 ± 86.78).
In addition, children of parents with postgraduate education spent more time using video consoles (M = 34.17 ± 60.17), television (M = 98.61 ± 77.38), computer (M = 50.99 ± 79.49) and tablets (M = 30.68 ± 54.03), as well as more time spent playing with the family (M = 57.45 ± 48.13) and hours of sleep (M = 9.00 ± 1.19). All these values refer to average values of time in minutes per day, except for sleeping hours, which are hours per day.
Considering the state of psychosocial well-being according to the level of education of the parents and the area of residence (
Table 9 and
Table 10), statistically significant results were obtained at the level of
p ≤ 0.05. European children of parents with postgraduate education, obtained higher levels in the state of positive psychosocial well-being (M = 7.98 ± 1.31) and the dimensions of happiness (M = 8.12 ± 1.41), energy (M = 8.38 ± 1.68) and self-esteem (M = 8.08 ± 1.67).
However, the subjects whose parents had a basic educational level, showed higher values for the negative state of psychosocial well-being (M = 6.13 ± 1.28) and in tiredness/fatigue (M = 4.14 ± 2.44). Considering Ibero-American children, differences were only obtained in the negative state of psychosocial well-being (M = 6.81 ± 1.53) and tiredness/fatigue (M = 5.11 ± 2.76), with the highest mean values manifesting in parents with basic educational level.
5. Conclusions
We concluded that, during the period of confinement in European areas, higher values were obtained in the time dedicated to PA, use of tablets, school task performance, artistic activities, family games, reading, playing free and hours of sleep; while in Ibero-America, there were longer times in the use of technological devices and performing domestic tasks.
The findings of this research reveal that Ibero-American participants presented higher levels of negative states in psychosocial well-being and in tiredness/fatigue. European parents with basic education had a greater number of TVs, while those with medium education had more video consoles, and those with postgraduate education reported having more computers and tablets. Likewise, European children of parents with postgraduate education, obtained higher levels in the state of positive psychosocial well-being, while Ibero-American parents who had postgraduate education showed a greater number of technological devices.