The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Parents and their Adolescent Children in Relation to Science Learning

With the transition to distance-learning at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, several countries required parents and their children to remain at home, under lockdown. Many parents found themselves taking on additional responsibilities regarding their children's education. However, children do not always interpret their parents' intentions as they intended. This study investigated this complex relationship, showing that parents' emphases regarding science learning changed during the first COVID-19 lockdown and in parallel, the relations between these emphases and their adolescent children's goal orientation and self-efficacy toward science learning also changed. In 2019, one year before the COVID-19 lockdown, the children's mastery and performance orientations toward science, and their self-efficacy in science were significantly correlated with their parent's attitudes toward science. In 2020, shortly after the end of the first COVID-19 lockdown, these relations remained significant, but in addition the parents' emphasis on performance became a significant predictor of the children's mastery and performance orientations, and of their self-efficacy in science. A small increase in the children's performance orientation and self-efficacy in science was seen, and only a small decline in their mastery orientation toward science. These findings contrast with what the literature indicates is typical at this age, when there are no lockdown conditions.

Glycemic Control and Diabetes Related Complications in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and ADHD

OBJECTIVE

To assess the correlation of co-morbid ADHD and diabetes-related complications in patients with type-1-diabetes-mellitus (T1DM).

METHODS

A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted during 2018 using the Leumit-Health-Services(LHS) database. Diabetes-related complications were assessed in patients with T1DM and ADHD (T1DM-ADHD+) and compared with patients with T1DM alone (T1DM-ADHD-).

RESULTS

Out of 789 adult-patients with T1DM, 75 (9.5%) were T1DM-ADHD+, matched to 225 T1DM-ADHD-. HbA₁C levels were higher in T1DM-ADHD+ patients (8.1% ± 1.6 vs. 7.4% ± 1.2, p < .01), as well as diabetes-related complications: neuropathy (22.7% vs. 5.8%, p < .01), ulcers (8% vs. 0.9%, p < .05), limb amputation (5.3% vs. 0.9%, p < .05), albuminuria (15.5% vs. 2.8%, p < .01), chronic renal failure (10.6% vs. 2.5%, p = .01), and emergency room admissions rate (26.7% vs. 15.1%, p < .05). In sub-analysis, lower average HbA₁C levels and diabetic ulcer rates were found among ADHD patients treated with stimulants, all p < .05.

CONCLUSION

Co-morbidity of ADHD and T1DM is associated with poor glycemic control and higher complication rates.

Increased Weight Gain of Children during the COVID-19 Lockdown

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) social-distancing strategy, including 7 weeks of strict lockdown, enabled an extraordinary test of stay-at-home regulations, which forced a sedentary lifestyle on all children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the lockdown effect on pediatric weight.

METHODS

A retrospective-prospective cohort study at our hospital's pediatric outpatient clinics following the COVID-19 lockdown. Patients aged 0-18 years visiting the clinic were weighed and previous weight and other clinical data were collected from the medical charts. Weight-percentile-for-age standardization was calculated according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization growth tables. Pre- and post-lockdown weight-percentiles-for-age were compared using paired t-test. Multivariate analysis was conducted using linear regression model.

RESULTS

The study was comprised of 229 patients; 117/229 (51.1%) were boys, 60/229 (26.2%) aged under 6 years. Total mean weight-percentile was significantly higher following the lockdown (40.44 vs. 38.82, respectively, P = 0.029). Boys had a significant post-lockdown weight-percentile rise (37.66 vs. 34.42, P = 0.014), whereas girls had higher baseline pre-quarantine weight-percentile of 43.42, which did not change. Patients younger than 6 years had a significant increase in weight-percentiles (39.18 vs. 33.58, P = 0.021). In multivariate analysis these correlations were preserved.