Quarantine Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic From the Perspective of Adolescents: The Crucial Role of Technology

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The year 2020 will be remembered as the “year of the COVID-19 pandemic”. The world population had to familiarize themselves with words as swabs, personal protective equipment, pandemic. To curb the wave of the pandemic, almost all the countries imposed self-isolation and social distancing. We conducted a web-based survey to investigate the behavioural responses during the quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods . Participants were 1860 youth aged 12-18 years attending lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, lifestyle changes during the quarantine period, and the psychological impact of the lock-down on adolescents’ life. Results. Most adolescents experienced feelings of fear, discouragement, and anxiety which strongly affected the approach to their daily lifestyles. Most of the surveyed subjects reported having used this period to acquire new skills and to practice physical activities at home. The use of technology was predominant both for recreational activities and educational purposes. Conclusions. Despite the strong psychological impact of the quarantine, adolescents showed good levels of resilience. Technology played a crucial role during the quarantine for young subjects who have increased the daily use of technological devices to stay connected with the rest of the world. Pediatrics Adolescence lock-down outbreak SARS-CoV-2 self-isolation social media Background Since the beginning of 2020, health authorities and government around the world are fighting the dramatic battle against the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Within few weeks of the first cases being reported in China, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection spread worldwide, and a pandemic was finally declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 11th, 2020 ( 1 ). To curb the wave of the pandemic, almost all the countries undertook containment strategies. In most cases, these measures resulted in strict governmental decrees that imposed self-isolation and social distancing, the so-called quarantine or “lock-down” period ( 2 ). Italy, which was one of the most affected countries by disease in Europe, set to quarantine the entire country from March 9th to May 3rd, 2020 for a total of 55 days. These restrictive strategies led to a gradual and constant reduction of new cases of infection ( 3 – 5 ). Nevertheless, the quarantine period had a strong psychological impact on the population. People were forced to radically change their daily lifestyles and were at high risk of developing feelings of fear, discouragement, anxiety, and depression ( 6 ). This underestimated consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic was mostly noticed in some risk groups such as older people, individuals suffering from chronic disease, children, and adolescents ( 7 – 10 ). Particularly, adolescence is a well-known tricky period of life characterized by rebellion and lawlessness ( 11 ). Respecting safer-at-home order and ban on any outdoor activities was not easy for young subjects who are used to daily sharing face to face experiences, feelings, emotions. This study aimed to investigate the behavioural responses during the quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a large cohort of Italian adolescents. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey based on an on-line questionnaire from April 23 to May 3, 2020. Survey participants were subjects aged 12–18 years attending lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools. The online link for the questionnaire was sent to the headteachers of 15 schools of Sicily, in southern Italy, who invited all their students to participate. Written informed consent through on-line form was obtained from all the participants. The study research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki declaration. The questionnaire included fifteen questions focusing on demographic characteristics (e.g. age, gender, type of school attended), lifestyle changes during the quarantine period (variations of eating habits, acquisition of new skills, changes in the sleep-weak rhythm, time spent on indoor physical activities, the use of technological devices such as personal computers, smartphones, tablets). The participants were asked if they experienced feelings of fear, discouragement, and anxiety during the lock-down, and to mention who or what they mostly lack. Finally, they were invited to quantify the psychological impact of the self-isolation and social distancing according to three response levels: no impact, poor impact, extreme impact. An English translation of the full Italian questionnaire is available as supplementary online material. Demographic patients’ characteristics and the results of the questionnaire were statistically analyzed. The numerical data were expressed as mean and standard deviation and the categorical variables as absolute frequencies and percentages. Results Our study population included 1860 adolescents. The mean age of the surveyed subjects was 16 ± 1.9 years, with a prevalence of female gender (61.7%). Most of the participants (88%) attended upper secondary school. Self-isolation and social distancing strongly influenced the everyday life of the majority of adolescents (70.2%), whereas only 6.8% of the individuals declared they were not affected in their approach to their daily lifestyles. Feelings such as fear, discouragement, and anxiety were widely present. The surveyed subjects mainly suffered from the lack of their friends, classmates, and partners. To visit relatives, to go to school, and to do outdoor sports were all missing activities during this quarantine period. Some participants declared they suffered from a lack of enjoyment and freedom. Most adolescents (81.5%) modified their sleep/wake rhythm. Almost two-thirds of the surveyed subjects (64.5%) took advantage of this period to acquire new skills such as cooking, reading books, learning to do it yourself activities, play an instrumental or a foreign language. Interestingly, 47.5% of adolescents declared no variations in their eating habits. Moreover, 25.6% of the surveyed individuals reported a more balanced diet, whereas 26.8% of subjects declared their eating habits worsened. Despite Italian governmental decrees prohibited outdoor sports, 84.5% of the survey participants regularly practiced physical activities at home. Particularly, most of them spent from 1 to 3 hours a week to do sport. The use of technology was predominant both for recreational activities (communications, games, videos) and for educational purposes (scholar, musical, and sportive activities). The average time spent on technology was mostly more than 6 hours a day for educational purposes and 4–6 hours a day for recreational activities. Almost all the subjects declared having a social profile (i.e. Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Snapchat, Ask.fm). Smartphones were mainly used to message, chat, or video-chat with other people, and to browse the web. The average number of sent/received text messages or chat messages were over 100 a day. A detailed overview of the results of the web-based survey is available in Table 1 . Table 1 Overview of the results of web-based survey. N° 1860 Age (ys) 16.0 ± 1.9 Gender Female Male 1147 (61.7%) 713 (38.3%) Attended school Lower secondary schools Upper secondary schools 224 (12%) 1636 (88%) Feelings of fear, discouragement, anxiety Yes No 1123 (60.4%) 737 (39.6%) The influence of self-isolation on the approach to everyday life Relevant impact Little impact No impact 1305 (70.2%) 428 (23.0%) 127 (6.8%) Main lack due to quarantine Friends, schoolmates, partners Families Outdoor sport School Freedom Enjoying life 684 (36.8) 276 (14.8%) 246 (13.2%) 262 (14.1%) 250 (13.4%) 142 (7.7%) Modification of sleep-weak rhythm Yes No 1516 (81.5%) 344 (18.5%) New skills acquired Cooking Reading books Do it yourself activities Learning to play an instrument Learning a new language Others (drawing, painting, etc) None 631 (33.9%) 238 (12.8%) 196 (10.6%) 60 (3.2%) 59 (3.2%) 14 (0.8%) 660 (35.5%) Variations in eating habits More balanced diet Less balanced diet No differences 477 (25.6%) 499 (26.8%) 884 (47.5%) Time spent on physical activity at home 6 hours a week Not practiced 355 (19.1%) 559 (30.1%) 324 (17.4%) 333 (17.9%) 289 (15.5%) Time spent on technology (desktop computers, smartphones, tablets) for educational purposes 6 hours a day Not used 295 (15.9%) 640 (34.4%) 925 (49.7%) / Time spent on technology (desktop computers, smartphones, tablets) for recreational activities 6 hours a day Not used 573 (30.8%) 765 (41.1%) 513 (27.6%) 9 (0.5%) Social profile (Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Ask.fm) Yes No 1835 (98.7%) 25 (1.3%) Way to use smartphone Messages, chat or video-chat Browse the web Talk on the phone Download/listen music Download/watch video All of the above 860 (46.2%) 314 (16.9%) 76 (4.1%) 35 (1.9%) 40 (2.2%) 535 (28.7%) Number of text messages and/or chat messages 0–10 a day 11–30 a day 31–50 a day 51–100 a day > 100 a day 29 (1.6%) 88 (4.7%) 206 (11.1%) 392 (21.1%) 1145 (61.6%) Discussion Although the exact rate of pediatric patients affected by COVID-19 worldwide is not available thus far, children and adolescents seem to be less infected ( 12 ). According to COVID-19 integrated surveillance data in Italy, only 3.1% of patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection were aged 0–18 years ( 13 ). However, it is well known that children and adolescents who are quarantined during pandemic diseases had a high risk of acute stress disorder. A preliminary study conducted in the Shaanxi province during the COVID-19 epidemic showed that clinging, inattention, and irritability were the most severe psychological conditions demonstrated by children and adolescents ( 9 ). Our survey confirmed that the majority of adolescents experienced feelings of fear, discouragement, and anxiety due to the lock-down, which strongly affected the approach to their daily lifestyles. Technology has played a crucial role during the quarantine for young subjects who have increased the daily use of technological devices to stay connected with the rest of the world. Particularly, social media platforms have become fundamental for maintaining and enhancing socialization. These interactive media platforms have been constantly used to maintain friendship and emotional connection. Nowadays, the real-life of adolescents is closely related to their "online environments”, and social media have become an integral part of critical adolescent developmental tasks ( 14 ). These online environments reflect, complement, and reinforce well-understood psychological mechanisms, such as social comparison, self-disclosure, and impression management ( 15 ). Social media tools also allow adolescents to enhance individual and collective creativity through the sharing of artistic and musical activities, the creation of blogs, podcasts, and videos ( 16 ). In some cases, the frequent use of social networks can mitigate negative experiences such as psychosocial maladjustment and relationship difficulties and allows them to remove fears and insecurities ( 17 ). The use of social media tools can also facilitate self-esteem increase, identity exploration, aspirational development, and it provides adolescents the opportunity to explore knowledge and establish new friendships ( 18 ). Our survey showed the crucial role of friendship during the adolescence age. Face-to-face contact with close friends has been the main lack due to restrictive laws among the surveyed adolescents. To obviate this lack, text messages, video-chats, and online contacts have become more frequent during the lock-down period. Therefore, face-to-face communication has been well replaced by virtual and interactive contact characterized by close friendships and emotional relationships ( 19 ). Despite the strong psychological impact of the quarantine, adolescents have shown good levels of resilience. Most of the surveyed subjects reported having used this period to acquire new skills. This positive response to the social emergency is related to the development of functional empowerment which allows reaching a satisfactory level of interior maturity. Interestingly, most of the subjects spent at least 1–3 hours a week for indoor physical activity. This finding is accordingly with another Italian survey that demonstrated an increase in training frequency ( 20 ). Sleep-wake habits were radically changed during the lock-down, as demonstrated by the majority of the surveyed adolescents who declared modification in their sleep/weak rhythm. This finding is in agreement with a French cross-sectional study that reported a high rate of trouble sleeping, particularly among young people ( 21 ). Regarding the dietary habits, almost half of adolescents have not reported any modifications. Otherwise, 25.6% of those interviewed declared a more balanced diet. We suppose that abstention from school and peer relationships out of school, has helped to maintain a healthy diet since the consumption of savory snacks, snacks, processed meat, carbonated and sugary drinks decreased ( 20 ). On the contrary, the consumption of healthy homemade food prevailed. Conclusions Quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic was something new for the most of population worldwide. Adolescents were strongly influenced by self-isolation and social distancing. Technology, and particularly social media, were fundamental to allow youth to overcome this stressful period and to limit psychological adverse events related to the lock-down. Abbreviations COVID-19 2019 coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 WHO World Health Organization Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate Written informed consent through on-line form was obtained from all the participants. The study research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki declaration Consent for publication Not applicable. Availability of data and materials An English translation of the full Italian questionnaire is available as supplementary online material. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding Not applicable. Author’s contributions FL conceived the designed study and approved the final version of the manuscript. SP drafted and wrote the paper. MP and FP analysed the results and helped to write the paper. LS and GLM sent the questionnaire link to the headteachers and collected the results. GBP and GS contributed to the discussion and reviewed the paper. Acknowledgements Not applicable. References Cascella, M., Rajnik, M., Cuomo, A., Dulebohn, S.C., Di Napoli, R. (2020). Features, Evaluation and Treatment Coronavirus (COVID-19). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. Nussbaumer-Streit, B., Mayr, V., Dobrescu, A.I., Chapman, A., Persad, E., Klerings, I., et al. (2020). Quarantine alone or in combination with other public health measures to control COVID-19: a rapid review. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 4, CD013574. Vicentini, C., Bordino, V., Gardois, P., Zotti, C.M. (2020). Early assessment of the impact of mitigation measures on the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Public Health. 185, 99–101. Bressan, S., Buonsenso, D., Farrugia, R., Parri, N., Oostenbrink, R., Titomanlio, L., et al. (2020). Preparedness and response to Pediatric CoVID-19 in European Emergency Departments: a survey of the REPEM and PERUKI networks. Ann Emerg Med. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2020.05.018. Lau, H., Khosrawipour, V., Kocbach, P., Mikolajczyk, A., Schubert, J., Bania, J., et al. (2020). The positive impact of lockdown in Wuhan on containing the COVID-19 outbreak in China. J Travel Med. 27, taaa037. Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C.S., et al. (2020). Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 17, 1729. Noone, C., McSharry, J., Smalle, M., Burns, A., Dwan, K., Devane, D., et al. (2020). Video calls for reducing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a rapid review. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 5, CD013632. Louvardi, M., Pelekasis, P., Chrousos, G.P., Darviri, C. (2020). Mental Health in Chronic Disease Patients during the COVID-19 Quarantine in Greece. Palliat Support Care. doi: 10.1017/S1478951520000528. Jiao, W.Y., Wang, L.N., Liu, J., Fang, S.F., Jiao, F.Y., Pettoello-Mantovani, M., et al. (2020). Behavioral and Emotional Disorders in Children during the COVID-19 Epidemic. J Pediatr. 221, 264-266. Passanisi, S., Pecoraro, M., Pira, F., Alibrandi, A., Donia, V., Lonia, P., et al. (2020). Quarantine Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic From the Perspective of Pediatric Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: A Web-Based Survey. Front Pediatr. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00491. Velez, G., Hahn, M., Recchia, H., Wainryb, C. (2020). Rethinking Responses to Youth Rebellion: Recent Growth and Development of Restorative Practices in Schools. Curr Opin Psychol. 35, 36–40. Passanisi, S., Lombardo, F., Salzano, G., Pajno, G.B. (2020). Are Children Most of the Submerged Part of SARS-CoV-2 Iceberg? Front Pediatr. 8, 213. Epidemiology for public health. Integrated Surveillance of COVID-19 in Italy. https://www.epicentro.iss.it/en/coronavirus/sars-cov-2-dashboard . Accessed 11 August 2020. Subrahmanyam, K., Smahel, D. (2011). Digital Youth: The Role of Media in Development. New York: Springer-Verlag. Bartsch, M., Subrahmanyam, K. (2015). Technology and Self-Presentation. The Wiley Handbook of Psychology, Technology, and Society. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. O’Keeffe, G.S., Clarke-Pearson, K., Council of Communications and Media. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Pediatrics. 127, 800–4. Cyr, B-A., Berman, S.L., Smith, M.L. (2015). The Role of Communication Technology in Adolescent Relationships and Identity Development. Child Youth Care Forum. 44, 79–92. Uhls, Y.T., Ellison, N.B., Subrahmanyam, K. (2017). Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence. Pediatrics. 140, S67–70. Vaterlaus, J.M., Tulane, S., Porter, B.D., Beckert, T.E. (2018). The Perceived Influence of Media and Technology on Adolescent Romantic Relationships. J Adolesc Res. 33, 651–71. Di Renzo, L., Gualtieri, P., Pivari, F., Soldati, L., Attinà, A., Cinelli, G., et al. (2020). Eating habits and lifestyle changes during COVID-19 lockdown: an Italian survey. J Transl Med. 18, 229. Beck, F., Léger, D., Fressard, L., Peretti-Watel, P., Verger, P., Coconel Group. (2020). Covid-19 health crisis and lockdown associated with high level of sleep complaints and hypnotic uptake at the population level. J Sleep Res. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13119. Supplementary Files Englishversionofthequestionnaire.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 22 Feb, 2021 Read the published version in Italian Journal of Pediatrics → Version 1 posted Review # 2 received at journal 01 Jan, 2021 Editorial decision: Major revision 01 Jan, 2021 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 11 Dec, 2020 Review # 1 received at journal 30 Nov, 2020 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 17 Nov, 2020 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Nov, 2020 Editor assigned by journal 24 Oct, 2020 Submission checks completed at journal 23 Oct, 2020 Editor invited by journal 23 Oct, 2020 First submitted to journal 20 Oct, 2020 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-97877","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":3939171,"identity":"72ae816b-9d1a-43f6-9a55-4c01282f184d","order_by":0,"name":"Giuseppina Salzano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Messina: Universita degli Studi di Messina","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giuseppina","middleName":"","lastName":"Salzano","suffix":""},{"id":3939172,"identity":"a2d75da2-e27d-4255-a192-7938c7956a4d","order_by":1,"name":"Stefano 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Within few weeks of the first cases being reported in China, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection spread worldwide, and a pandemic was finally declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 11th, 2020 (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). To curb the wave of the pandemic, almost all the countries undertook containment strategies. In most cases, these measures resulted in strict governmental decrees that imposed self-isolation and social distancing, the so-called quarantine or \u0026ldquo;lock-down\u0026rdquo; period (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). Italy, which was one of the most affected countries by disease in Europe, set to quarantine the entire country from March 9th to May 3rd, 2020 for a total of 55 days. These restrictive strategies led to a gradual and constant reduction of new cases of infection (\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR4\" citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). Nevertheless, the quarantine period had a strong psychological impact on the population. People were forced to radically change their daily lifestyles and were at high risk of developing feelings of fear, discouragement, anxiety, and depression (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e). This underestimated consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic was mostly noticed in some risk groups such as older people, individuals suffering from chronic disease, children, and adolescents (\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR8 CR9\" citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e). Particularly, adolescence is a well-known tricky period of life characterized by rebellion and lawlessness (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e). Respecting safer-at-home order and ban on any outdoor activities was not easy for young subjects who are used to daily sharing face to face experiences, feelings, emotions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study aimed to investigate the behavioural responses during the quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a large cohort of Italian adolescents.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Methods","content":" \u003cp\u003eWe conducted a cross-sectional survey based on an on-line questionnaire from April 23 to May 3, 2020. Survey participants were subjects aged 12\u0026ndash;18\u0026nbsp;years attending lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools. The online link for the questionnaire was sent to the headteachers of 15 schools of Sicily, in southern Italy, who invited all their students to participate. Written informed consent through on-line form was obtained from all the participants. The study research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki declaration. The questionnaire included fifteen questions focusing on demographic characteristics (e.g. age, gender, type of school attended), lifestyle changes during the quarantine period (variations of eating habits, acquisition of new skills, changes in the sleep-weak rhythm, time spent on indoor physical activities, the use of technological devices such as personal computers, smartphones, tablets). The participants were asked if they experienced feelings of fear, discouragement, and anxiety during the lock-down, and to mention who or what they mostly lack. Finally, they were invited to quantify the psychological impact of the self-isolation and social distancing according to three response levels: no impact, poor impact, extreme impact.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn English translation of the full Italian questionnaire is available as supplementary online material.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDemographic patients\u0026rsquo; characteristics and the results of the questionnaire were statistically analyzed. The numerical data were expressed as mean and standard deviation and the categorical variables as absolute frequencies and percentages.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Results","content":" \u003cp\u003eOur study population included 1860 adolescents. The mean age of the surveyed subjects was 16\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.9 years, with a prevalence of female gender (61.7%). Most of the participants (88%) attended upper secondary school. Self-isolation and social distancing strongly influenced the everyday life of the majority of adolescents (70.2%), whereas only 6.8% of the individuals declared they were not affected in their approach to their daily lifestyles. Feelings such as fear, discouragement, and anxiety were widely present. The surveyed subjects mainly suffered from the lack of their friends, classmates, and partners. To visit relatives, to go to school, and to do outdoor sports were all missing activities during this quarantine period. Some participants declared they suffered from a lack of enjoyment and freedom. Most adolescents (81.5%) modified their sleep/wake rhythm. Almost two-thirds of the surveyed subjects (64.5%) took advantage of this period to acquire new skills such as cooking, reading books, learning to do it yourself activities, play an instrumental or a foreign language. Interestingly, 47.5% of adolescents declared no variations in their eating habits. Moreover, 25.6% of the surveyed individuals reported a more balanced diet, whereas 26.8% of subjects declared their eating habits worsened. Despite Italian governmental decrees prohibited outdoor sports, 84.5% of the survey participants regularly practiced physical activities at home. Particularly, most of them spent from 1 to 3 hours a week to do sport. The use of technology was predominant both for recreational activities (communications, games, videos) and for educational purposes (scholar, musical, and sportive activities). The average time spent on technology was mostly more than 6 hours a day for educational purposes and 4\u0026ndash;6 hours a day for recreational activities. Almost all the subjects declared having a social profile (i.e. Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Snapchat, Ask.fm). Smartphones were mainly used to message, chat, or video-chat with other people, and to browse the web. The average number of sent/received text messages or chat messages were over 100 a day.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA detailed overview of the results of the web-based survey is available in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOverview of the results of web-based survey.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eN\u0026deg;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1860\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAge\u003c/b\u003e (ys)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16.0\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGender\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1147 (61.7%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e713 (38.3%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAttended school\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLower secondary schools\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eUpper secondary schools\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e224 (12%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1636 (88%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFeelings of fear, discouragement, anxiety\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1123 (60.4%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e737 (39.6%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe influence of self-isolation on the approach to everyday life\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRelevant impact\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLittle impact\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo impact\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1305 (70.2%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e428 (23.0%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e127 (6.8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMain lack due to quarantine\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFriends, schoolmates, partners\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFamilies\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOutdoor sport\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSchool\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFreedom\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnjoying life\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e684 (36.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e276 (14.8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e246 (13.2%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e262 (14.1%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e250 (13.4%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e142 (7.7%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eModification of sleep-weak rhythm\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1516 (81.5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e344 (18.5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew skills acquired\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCooking\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReading books\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDo it yourself activities\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLearning to play an instrument\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLearning a new language\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOthers (drawing, painting, etc)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNone\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e631 (33.9%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e238 (12.8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e196 (10.6%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e60 (3.2%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e59 (3.2%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 (0.8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e660 (35.5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVariations in eating habits\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMore balanced diet\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLess balanced diet\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo differences\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e477 (25.6%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e499 (26.8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e884 (47.5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTime spent on physical activity at home\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;1 hour a week\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u0026ndash;3 hours a week\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;6 hours a week\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;6 hours a week\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot practiced\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e355 (19.1%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e559 (30.1%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e324 (17.4%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e333 (17.9%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e289 (15.5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTime spent on technology (desktop computers, smartphones, tablets) for educational purposes\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;3 hours a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;6 hours a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;6 hours a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot used\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e295 (15.9%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e640 (34.4%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e925 (49.7%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTime spent on technology (desktop computers, smartphones, tablets) for recreational activities\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;3 hours a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u0026ndash;6 hours a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;6 hours a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot used\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e573 (30.8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e765 (41.1%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e513 (27.6%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 (0.5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSocial profile (Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Ask.fm)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1835 (98.7%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e25 (1.3%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWay to use smartphone\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMessages, chat or video-chat\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBrowse the web\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTalk on the phone\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDownload/listen music\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDownload/watch video\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAll of the above\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e860 (46.2%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e314 (16.9%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e76 (4.1%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e35 (1.9%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e40 (2.2%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e535 (28.7%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of text messages and/or chat messages\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u0026ndash;10 a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u0026ndash;30 a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u0026ndash;50 a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e51\u0026ndash;100 a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;100 a day\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29 (1.6%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e88 (4.7%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e206 (11.1%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e392 (21.1%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1145 (61.6%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Discussion","content":" \u003cp\u003eAlthough the exact rate of pediatric patients affected by COVID-19 worldwide is not available thus far, children and adolescents seem to be less infected (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e). According to COVID-19 integrated surveillance data in Italy, only 3.1% of patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection were aged 0\u0026ndash;18\u0026nbsp;years (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e). However, it is well known that children and adolescents who are quarantined during pandemic diseases had a high risk of acute stress disorder. A preliminary study conducted in the Shaanxi province during the COVID-19 epidemic showed that clinging, inattention, and irritability were the most severe psychological conditions demonstrated by children and adolescents (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e). Our survey confirmed that the majority of adolescents experienced feelings of fear, discouragement, and anxiety due to the lock-down, which strongly affected the approach to their daily lifestyles.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTechnology has played a crucial role during the quarantine for young subjects who have increased the daily use of technological devices to stay connected with the rest of the world. Particularly, social media platforms have become fundamental for maintaining and enhancing socialization. These interactive media platforms have been constantly used to maintain friendship and emotional connection. Nowadays, the real-life of adolescents is closely related to their \"online environments\u0026rdquo;, and social media have become an integral part of critical adolescent developmental tasks (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e). These online environments reflect, complement, and reinforce well-understood psychological mechanisms, such as social comparison, self-disclosure, and impression management (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e). Social media tools also allow adolescents to enhance individual and collective creativity through the sharing of artistic and musical activities, the creation of blogs, podcasts, and videos (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e). In some cases, the frequent use of social networks can mitigate negative experiences such as psychosocial maladjustment and relationship difficulties and allows them to remove fears and insecurities (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e). The use of social media tools can also facilitate self-esteem increase, identity exploration, aspirational development, and it provides adolescents the opportunity to explore knowledge and establish new friendships (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e). Our survey showed the crucial role of friendship during the adolescence age. Face-to-face contact with close friends has been the main lack due to restrictive laws among the surveyed adolescents. To obviate this lack, text messages, video-chats, and online contacts have become more frequent during the lock-down period. Therefore, face-to-face communication has been well replaced by virtual and interactive contact characterized by close friendships and emotional relationships (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDespite the strong psychological impact of the quarantine, adolescents have shown good levels of resilience. Most of the surveyed subjects reported having used this period to acquire new skills. This positive response to the social emergency is related to the development of functional empowerment which allows reaching a satisfactory level of interior maturity. Interestingly, most of the subjects spent at least 1\u0026ndash;3 hours a week for indoor physical activity. This finding is accordingly with another Italian survey that demonstrated an increase in training frequency (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSleep-wake habits were radically changed during the lock-down, as demonstrated by the majority of the surveyed adolescents who declared modification in their sleep/weak rhythm. This finding is in agreement with a French cross-sectional study that reported a high rate of trouble sleeping, particularly among young people (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e). Regarding the dietary habits, almost half of adolescents have not reported any modifications. Otherwise, 25.6% of those interviewed declared a more balanced diet. We suppose that abstention from school and peer relationships out of school, has helped to maintain a healthy diet since the consumption of savory snacks, snacks, processed meat, carbonated and sugary drinks decreased (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e). On the contrary, the consumption of healthy homemade food prevailed.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Conclusions","content":" \u003cp\u003eQuarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic was something new for the most of population worldwide. Adolescents were strongly influenced by self-isolation and social distancing. Technology, and particularly social media, were fundamental to allow youth to overcome this stressful period and to limit psychological adverse events related to the lock-down.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":" \u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionList\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionListEntry\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"Term\"\u003eCOVID-19\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"Description\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2019 coronavirus disease\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionListEntry\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"Term\"\u003eSARS-CoV-2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"Description\"\u003e \u003cp\u003esevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionListEntry\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"Term\"\u003eWHO\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"Description\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWorld Health Organization\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e "},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten informed consent through on-line form was obtained from all the participants. The study research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki declaration\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn English translation of the full Italian questionnaire is available as supplementary online material.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor\u0026rsquo;s contributions \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFL conceived the designed study and approved the final version of the manuscript. SP drafted and wrote the paper. MP and FP analysed the results and helped to write the paper. LS and GLM sent the questionnaire link to the headteachers and collected the results. GBP and GS contributed to the discussion and reviewed the paper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCascella, M., Rajnik, M., Cuomo, A., Dulebohn, S.C., Di Napoli, R. (2020). Features, Evaluation and Treatment Coronavirus (COVID-19). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNussbaumer-Streit, B., Mayr, V., Dobrescu, A.I., Chapman, A., Persad, E., Klerings, I., et al. (2020). Quarantine alone or in combination with other public health measures to control COVID-19: a rapid review. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 4, CD013574.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVicentini, C., Bordino, V., Gardois, P., Zotti, C.M. (2020). Early assessment of the impact of mitigation measures on the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Public Health. 185, 99\u0026ndash;101.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBressan, S., Buonsenso, D., Farrugia, R., Parri, N., Oostenbrink, R., Titomanlio, L., et al. (2020). Preparedness and response to Pediatric CoVID-19 in European Emergency Departments: a survey of the REPEM and PERUKI networks. Ann Emerg Med. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2020.05.018.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLau, H., Khosrawipour, V., Kocbach, P., Mikolajczyk, A., Schubert, J., Bania, J., et al. (2020). The positive impact of lockdown in Wuhan on containing the COVID-19 outbreak in China. J Travel Med. 27, taaa037.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C.S., et al. (2020). Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 17, 1729.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNoone, C., McSharry, J., Smalle, M., Burns, A., Dwan, K., Devane, D., et al. (2020). Video calls for reducing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a rapid review. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 5, CD013632.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLouvardi, M., Pelekasis, P., Chrousos, G.P., Darviri, C. (2020). Mental Health in Chronic Disease Patients during the COVID-19 Quarantine in Greece. Palliat Support Care. doi: 10.1017/S1478951520000528.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJiao, W.Y., Wang, L.N., Liu, J., Fang, S.F., Jiao, F.Y., Pettoello-Mantovani, M., et al. (2020). Behavioral and Emotional Disorders in Children during the COVID-19 Epidemic. J Pediatr. 221, 264-266.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePassanisi, S., Pecoraro, M., Pira, F., Alibrandi, A., Donia, V., Lonia, P., et al. (2020). Quarantine Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic From the Perspective of Pediatric Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: A Web-Based Survey. Front Pediatr. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00491.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVelez, G., Hahn, M., Recchia, H., Wainryb, C. (2020). Rethinking Responses to Youth Rebellion: Recent Growth and Development of Restorative Practices in Schools. Curr Opin Psychol. 35, 36\u0026ndash;40.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePassanisi, S., Lombardo, F., Salzano, G., Pajno, G.B. (2020). Are Children Most of the Submerged Part of SARS-CoV-2 Iceberg? Front Pediatr. 8, 213.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEpidemiology for public health. Integrated Surveillance of COVID-19 in Italy. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epicentro.iss.it/en/coronavirus/sars-cov-2-dashboard\"\u003ehttps://www.epicentro.iss.it/en/coronavirus/sars-cov-2-dashboard\u003c/a\u003e. Accessed 11 August 2020.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSubrahmanyam, K., Smahel, D. (2011). Digital Youth: The Role of Media in Development. New York: Springer-Verlag.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBartsch, M., Subrahmanyam, K. (2015). Technology and Self-Presentation. The Wiley Handbook of Psychology, Technology, and Society. John Wiley \u0026amp; Sons, Ltd.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eO\u0026rsquo;Keeffe, G.S., Clarke-Pearson, K., Council of Communications and Media. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Pediatrics. 127, 800\u0026ndash;4.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCyr, B-A., Berman, S.L., Smith, M.L. (2015). The Role of Communication Technology in Adolescent Relationships and Identity Development. Child Youth Care Forum. 44, 79\u0026ndash;92.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUhls, Y.T., Ellison, N.B., Subrahmanyam, K. (2017). Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence. Pediatrics. 140, S67\u0026ndash;70.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVaterlaus, J.M., Tulane, S., Porter, B.D., Beckert, T.E. (2018). The Perceived Influence of Media and Technology on Adolescent Romantic Relationships. J Adolesc Res. 33, 651\u0026ndash;71.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDi Renzo, L., Gualtieri, P., Pivari, F., Soldati, L., Attin\u0026agrave;, A., Cinelli, G., et al. (2020). Eating habits and lifestyle changes during COVID-19 lockdown: an Italian survey. J Transl Med. 18, 229.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBeck, F., L\u0026eacute;ger, D., Fressard, L., Peretti-Watel, P., Verger, P., Coconel Group. (2020). Covid-19 health crisis and lockdown associated with high level of sleep complaints and hypnotic uptake at the population level. J Sleep Res. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13119.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"italian-journal-of-pediatrics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"itjp","sideBox":"Learn more about [Italian Journal of Pediatrics](http://ijponline.biomedcentral.com)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/ITJP/default.aspx","title":"Italian Journal of Pediatrics","twitterHandle":"@BioMedCentral","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Adolescence, lock-down, outbreak, SARS-CoV-2, self-isolation, social media","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-97877/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-97877/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e. The year 2020 will be remembered as the “year of the COVID-19 pandemic”. The world population had to familiarize themselves with words as swabs, personal protective equipment, pandemic. To curb the wave of the pandemic, almost all the countries imposed self-isolation and social distancing. We conducted a web-based survey to investigate the behavioural responses during the quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e. Participants were 1860 youth aged 12-18 years attending lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, lifestyle changes during the quarantine period, and the psychological impact of the lock-down on adolescents’ life.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults.\u003c/strong\u003e Most adolescents experienced feelings of fear, discouragement, and anxiety which strongly affected the approach to their daily lifestyles. Most of the surveyed subjects reported having used this period to acquire new skills and to practice physical activities at home. The use of technology was predominant both for recreational activities and educational purposes.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions.\u003c/strong\u003e Despite the strong psychological impact of the quarantine, adolescents showed good levels of resilience. Technology played a crucial role during the quarantine for young subjects who have increased the daily use of technological devices to stay connected with the rest of the world.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Quarantine Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic From the Perspective of Adolescents: The Crucial Role of Technology","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2020-10-30 14:35:53","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-97877/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2021-01-02T00:00:00+00:00","index":2,"fulltext":"Recommendation: Reviewer's comments unavailable due to the journal's policy.\n"},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revision","date":"2021-01-02T00:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2020-12-12T00:00:00+00:00","index":2,"fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2020-12-01T00:00:00+00:00","index":1,"fulltext":"Recommendation: Reviewer's comments unavailable due to the journal's policy.\n"},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2020-11-18T00:00:00+00:00","index":1,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2020-11-03T00:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2020-10-24T12:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2020-10-23T12:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2020-10-23T12:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"","date":"2020-10-20T12:00:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"italian-journal-of-pediatrics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"itjp","sideBox":"Learn more about [Italian Journal of Pediatrics](http://ijponline.biomedcentral.com)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/ITJP/default.aspx","title":"Italian Journal of Pediatrics","twitterHandle":"@BioMedCentral","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"77be1498-895a-4cf4-b4f7-6c2389358d36","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 30th, 2020","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":922389,"name":"Pediatrics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2021-02-28T15:00:49+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-97877","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-021-00997-7","journal":{"identity":"italian-journal-of-pediatrics","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Italian Journal of Pediatrics"},"publishedOn":"2021-02-22 15:00:31","publishedOnDateReadable":"February 22nd, 2021"},"versionCreatedAt":"2020-10-30 14:35:53","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s13052-021-00997-7","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-021-00997-7","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-97877","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-97877","identity":"rs-97877","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"_2-kVJe1T_tPrBINL-cwx","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}