Journals / Marmara Medical Journal / 2026 / Volume: 36 Issue: 1

Anger and aggression in children aged 6-12 in lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey

Hilal Kurt Sezer(NIGDE OMER HALISDEMIR UNIVERSITY)0000-0001-8365-0655
Nilay Bektas Akpınar(ANKARA MEDİPOL UNIVERSITY)0000-0003-4142-6457
Pages
—
Publication Date
2023-01-31
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Conclusion: Although, preventive measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic prevent the spread of the virus and allow parents and children to spend time together, they also adversely affect mental health.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Objective: This study investigated the relationship between parents’ emotional states and the anger and aggression levels of their children between the ages of 6-12 who were in social isolation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Turkey.
📊
Key Findings & Data:The sample consisted of 261 parents.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Conclusion: Although, preventive measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic prevent the spread of the virus and allow parents and children to spend time together, they also adversely affect mental health.
🔬Design:Research Article
📍Scope:2019 Verileri
⚙️Variables:COVID-19 · Pandemic · Social isolation

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between parents’ emotional states and the anger and aggression levels of their children between the ages of 6-12 who were in social isolation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Turkey. Materials and Methods: The study adopted a cross-sectional and descriptive design. The sample consisted of 261 parents. Data were collected online during lockdowns between May and September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: More than half of the participants reported that they were unhappy (53.2%), sad (63.2%), and worried about the future due to the COVID-19 pandemic (70.8%). Less than a quarter of the participants were angry (17.6%). Children living in districts had significantly higher verbal aggression scores than those living in city centers (p <0.05). Children with relatives who tested positive for COVID-19 had significantly higher verbal aggression scores than those without (p <0.05). Conclusion: Although, preventive measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic prevent the spread of the virus and allow parents and children to spend time together, they also adversely affect mental health.

🔖

Cite This Article

Sezer, H. K., Akpınar, N. B., Ceran, M. A., Tanrıkulu, G. (2023). Anger and aggression in children aged 6-12 in lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Marmara Medical Journal, Volume: 36 Issue: 1. https://doi.org/10.5472/marumj.1244642

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (44)

  1. Russell BS, Hutchison M, Tambling R, et al. Initial challenges of caregiving during COVID-19: caregiver burden, mental health, and the parent-child relationship. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2020; 51:671-82. doi: 10.1007/s10578.020.01037-x.
  2. Demirbaş KN, Koçak S. Evaluation of the covıd-19 pandemic period from the perspective of parents with children between the ages of 2-6. EJRSE 2020;7:328-49.
  3. Jiao WY, Wang LN, Liu J, et al. Behavioral and emotional disorders in children during the COVID-19 epidemic. J Pediatr 2020; 221:264-6.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.03.013
  4. Lieberman AF, Chu A, Van Horn P, et al. Trauma in early childhood: empirical evidence and clinical implications. Dev Psychopathol 2011;23:397-410.doi: 10.1017/ S095.457.9411000137.
  5. Scheeringa MS, Zeanah CH, Cohen JA. PTDS in children and adolescents: Toward an empirically based algorithm. Depress Anxiety 2011;28:770-82.doi: 10.1002/da.20736.
  6. Boelen PA, Spuij M. Symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder in bereaved children and adölescents: Factor structure and correlates. J Abnorm Child Psychol 2013;41:1097-108.doi: 10.1007/s10802.013.9748-6.
  7. Dyregrov A. Grief in children: A handbook for adults. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008.
  8. Sütcü ST, Aydın A, Sorias O. Effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral group therapy program for reducing anger and aggression in adolescents. J Psychol 2010;25:57-67.
  9. Sukhodolsky DG, Smith SD, Mccauley SA, et al. Behavioral ınterventions for anger, ırritability, and aggression in children and adolescents. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 2016;26:28-64.doi: 10.1089/cap.2015.0120.
  10. Hanratty J, Macdonald G, Livingstone N. Child-focused psychosocial interventions for anger and aggression in children under 12 years of age (Protocol). Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015;:1-13. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011.788.2015;7:1- 13.doi:
  11. Loeber R, Burke JD, Pardini DA. Development and etiology of disruptive and delinquent behavior. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2009;5:291-310.doi: 10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.032.408.153631.
  12. Pisano L, Galimi D, Cerniglia L. A qualitative report on exploratory data on the possible emotional / behavioral correlates of Covid-19 lockdown in 4-10 years children in Italy. PsyArXiv 2020. doi: 10.31234/osf.io/stwbn.
  13. OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Combatting COVID-19’s effect on children http://www.oecd. org/coronavirus/policy-responses/combatting-covid-19-seffect- on-children-2e1f3b2f/. Accessed: 20 June, 2020
  14. Öztürk OM, Uluşahin A. Ruh sağlığı ve bozuklukları. 15. Baskı. Ankara: Nobel Tıp Kitabevi, 2018.
  15. Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet 2020;395(10227):912-20.doi: 10.1016/S0140- 6736(20)30460-8.
  16. Kundu B, Bhowmik D. Societal impact of novel corona virus (COVID-19 pandemic) in India. SocArXiv 2020. doi. org/10.31235/osf.io/vm5rz
  17. Mazza C, Ricci E, Biondi S, Colasanti M, Ferracuti S, Napoli C, Roma P. A nationwide survey of psychological distress among italian people during the COVID-19 pandemic: Immediate psychological responses and associated factors. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020;17:1-14.doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093165.
  18. Ginsburg GS, Grover RL, LaLongo N. Parenting behaviors among anxious and non-anxious mothers: relation with concurrent and long-term child outcomes. Child Fam Behav Ther 2005;26:23-41.doi: 10.1300/J019v26n04_02.
  19. Ghosh R, Dubey MJ, Chatterjee S, et al. Impact of COVID-19 on children: special focus on the psychosocial aspect. Minerva Pediatr 2020;72:226-35.doi: 10.23736/S0026- 4946.20.05887-9.
  20. Naderifar M, Goli H, Ghaljaie F. Snowball sampling: A purposeful method of sampling in qualitative research. SDME 2017;14:e67670.doi:10.5812/sdme.67670.
  21. Cohen J. The analysis of variance. In Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (second ed.). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1988:274-87.
  22. Halperin JM, McKay KE, Newcorn JH. Development, reliability, and validity of the children’s aggression scaleparent version. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2002; 41(Suppl.3):245-52.doi: 10.1097/00004.583.200203000-00003.
  23. Ercan E, Ercan ES, Ardıç ÜA, Uçar S. Children Aggression Scale-Parent Version (CAS-P): Turkish validity and reliability study. Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2016; 17(1):77-84.doi: 10.5455/ apd.180426.
  24. Leung CC, Lam TH, Cheng KK. Mass Masking in the COVID-19 Epidemic: People Need Guidance. Lancet 2020:945-947.doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30520-1.
  25. Usta SY, Gökcan HN. Covid-19 through the eye of children and mothers. International IJSSER 2020;6(2):187-206.do: 10.24289/ijsser.744642.
  26. Tapper G, Boultan JM. Sex differences in levels of physical, verbal, and indirect aggression amongst primary school children and their associations with beliefs about aggression. Aggressive Behaviour 2004;30:123-45.doi: 10.12691/ajap-2-2- 3.
  27. Stoner SB, Spencer WB. Age and gender differences with the anger expression scale. Educational Psychology Measurement 1987;47:487-92.doi:10.1177/001.316.4487472.
  28. Gruber J, Prinstein MJ, Clark LA, et al. Mental health and clinical psychological science in the time of COVID-19: Challenges, opportunities, and a call to action. Am Psychol 2021;76:409-26.doi: 10.1037/amp0000707.
  29. Burney D. An investigation of anger styles in adolescent students. The Negro Educational Review 2006;57:36-48.
  30. Kepenkci Y, Cinkir S. Bullying Among Turkish High School Students. Child Abuse Negl 2006;30:193-204.doi: 10.1016/j. chiabu.2005.10.005.
  31. Joseph Hw, Symons FJ, Shores RE. A descriptive analysis of aggressive behavior in classrooms for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders 1995;20:87- 105.doi: 10.1177/019.874.2995020002.
  32. Dewi K, Prihatsanti U, Setyawan I, Siswati. Children’s aggressive behavior tendency in Central Java Coastal Region: The Role of Parent-Child Interaction, Father’s Affection and media exposure. Environmental Sciences 2015;23:192-98.doi: 10.1016/j.proenv.2015.01.030.
  33. Card AN, Stucky BD, Sawalani MG, et al. TD. Direct and indirect aggression during childhood and adolescence: a meta-analytic review of gender differences, intercorrelations, and relations to maladjustment. Child Dev 2008;79:1185-229. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01184.x.
  34. Odgers CL, Moffitt TE, Tach LM, et al. The protective effects of neighbourhood collective efficacy on British children growing up in deprivation: e developmental analysis. Developmental Psychology 2009;:942-57.doi: 10.1037/a0016162.
  35. Rudolph KE, Stuart EA, Glass TA, Merikangas KR. Neighborhood disadvantage in context: the influence of urbanicity on the association between neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent emotional disorders. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2014;49:467-75.doi: 10.1007/ s00127.013.0725-8.
  36. Dalton L, Rapa E, Ziebland S, et al. Communication with children and adolescents about the diagnosis of a lifethreatening condition in their parent. Lancet 2019;393:1164- 76.doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)33202-1.
  37. Frick PJ, White SF. Research review: the importance of callous-unemotional traits for developmental models of aggressive and antisocial behavior. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2008;49:359-75.doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01862.x.
  38. Winiarski DA, Engel ML, Karnik NS, Brennan PA. Early life stress and childhood aggression: mediating and moderating effects of child callousness and stress reactivity. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2018;49:730-39.doi: 10.1007/ s10578.018.0785-9.
  39. CSTS.2020. Helping Homebound Children during the COVID-19 Outbreak https://www.cstsonline.org/assets/ media/documents/CSTS_FS_Helping_Homebound_ Children_during_COVID19_Outbreak.pdf Accessed: 28 June 2020
  40. Galea S, Merchant RM, Lurie N. The mental health consequences of COVID-19 and physical distancing: the need for prevention and early intervention. JAMA Intern Med 2020;180:817-18. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1562.
  41. Danese A, Smith P, Chitsabesan P, Dubicka B. Child and adolescent mental health amidst emergencies and disasters. Br J Psychiatry 2019;216:159-62. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2019.244.
  42. Liu S, Yang L, Zhang C, Xiang YT, Liu Z, Hu S et al. Online mental health services in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet Psychiatry 2020;7:e17-e18.doi: 10.1016/ S2215-0366(20)30077-8.
  43. Sprang G, Silman M. Posttraumatic stress disorder in parents and youth after health-related disasters. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2013;7:105-10.doi: 10.1017/dmp.2013.22.
  44. Gruber J, Prinstein MJ, Clark LA, et al. Mental health and clinical psychological science in the time of COVID-19: Challenges, opportunities, and a call to action. Am Psychol 2021;76:409-26.doi: 10.1037/amp0000707.