THE IMPACT OF ROUTINES ON EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL DIFFICULTIES IN CHILDREN AND ON PARENTAL ANXIETY DURING COVID-19

Aims and hypothesis We hypothesised that there would be an association between maintaining a routine during lockdown and both lower emotional and behavioural difficulties in children and lower parental anxiety. We also hypothesised that children of ‘keyworker’ parents would have fewer emotional and behavioural symptoms due to having maintained more normal routines. Background The Covid-19 pandemic and related public health measures have impacted on mental health of children. Methods We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to explore associations between maintaining a routine, and emotional and behavioural difficulties in children, using linear regression models. We included measures of parental anxiety. We separately explored associations with having a keyworker parent. We used the Carey Infant Temperament Questionnaire and the Revised Rutter Parent Scale for Preschool Children to establish levels of emotional and behavioural difficulties. Results 289 parents completed questionnaires about their 411 children. Keeping a routine was associated with emotional and behavioural difficulty scores 5.0 points lower (95% CI -10.0 to - 0.1), p=0.045 than not keeping a routine. Parents who reported keeping a routine had anxiety scores 4.3 points lower (95% CI -7.5 to -1.1), p=0.009 than those who did not. Children of keyworkers tended to have lower emotional and behavioural difficulty scores (−3.1 (95%CI -6.26 to 0.08), p=0.056) than children of non-keyworkers. All models were adjusted for relevant potential confounders. Conclusion Maintaining a routine may be beneficial for both child emotional wellbeing and parental anxiety, although it is also possible that lower parental anxiety levels made maintaining a routine easier. Being the child of a keyworker parent during lockdown may have been protective for child emotional wellbeing.