[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-591803-105":59,"doc-detail-591803-en":129},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":122,"head_meta":124,"extra_data":126,"updated_unix":128},105,"en","how-children-coped-in-the-first-months-of-the-pandemic-lockdown","How Children Coped in the First Months of the Pandemic Lockdown","","Survey data from the first two months after spring 2020 school lockdown in the United States examined children aged eight to thirteen and their parents. Findings counter early expectations: children reported less anxiety, more sleep, and greater happiness than sadness, while using free time for self-chosen activities, helping out at home, and enjoying increased family togetherness. The author links these patterns to Self-Determination Theory, arguing that autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs may have been met more during lockdown, improving mental well-being.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/how-children-coped-in-the-first-months-of-the-pandemic-lockdown/591803/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/how-children-coped-in-the-first-months-of-the-pandemic-lockdown/591803.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Dipper","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"What did surveys in the first months after school lockdown find about children’s anxiety and happiness?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"Children were less anxious than before the pandemic and were much more likely to describe themselves as happy than sad.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"How did children spend their free time during the lockdown?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"They used free time to discover and engage in new, self-chosen activities, and many helped out at home.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"How does Self-Determination Theory explain possible mental well-being improvements during lockdown?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"It suggests psychological well-being depends on satisfying needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which may have been met more during lockdown than before.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},591803,1792079793,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":46,"language":138,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":142,"read_time":31},1374404997633,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","How Children Coped in the First Months of the Pandemic Lockdown  \nFree Time, Play, Family Togetherness, and Helping Out at Home •  \nPeter Gray  \nDuring the first and second months after school lockdown in spring 2020, the author and others conducted surveys in the United States of children aged eight through thirteen and of parents with children the same ages. Contrary to many expectations, they found the children less anxious than they had been prior to the pandemic. The children were getting more sleep, were much more likely to report themselves as happy than sad, were using their free time to discover and engage in new, self-chosen activities, were helping out at home, were enjoying the extra time with their family, and were gaining new respect and appreciation from their parents. The author concludes that these findings, along with findings from other studies early in the pandemic, suggest an increased time for play, an increased opportunity to contribute constructively to family life, and an increased family togetherness improved the mental well-being of many children during at least the first months of the pandemic. He discusses these results in relation to Self-Determination Theory, which posits that psychological well-being depends upon satisfaction of basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, all of which may have been satisfied to a greater extent after lockdown than before. Keywords: children’s initiative; children’s resilience; coping with stress; COVID- 19; family togetherness; pandemic school lockdown; play and mental health;  \nSelf-Determination Theory  \nIn early to mid-March 2020 , schools and venues for children’s afterschool activities suddenly closed throughout the United States (as well as in other parts of the world) to reduce the spread ofCOVID-19 . How did children cope with this change from a world in which they had been kept perhaps too busy with scheduled activities at school and after school to one in which these activities were suddenly canceled? Many businesses also closed, and everyone was cautioned to avoid close contact with anyone outside the immediate family, even outdoors.  \n33  \nAmerican Journal of Play, volume 13, number 1 © The Strong [Contact Peter Gray at grayp@bc.edu](Contact Peter Gray at grayp@bc.edu)  \nThe most prevalent early predictions by mental health specialists, conveyed both in professional journals and the popular press, were that children, though generally not suffering from the virus itself, were or would soon be suffering psychologically from the consequences of the pandemic (Courtney et al. 2020; Kluger 2020; Villarreal 2020). The general claim was that the disruption in children’s schedules and routines caused by school closures, along with confinement to home, loss of physical contact with friends, and family stress from economic and health concerns would result in heightened levels of depression and anxiety. Many research studies were initiated worldwide in spring 2020, aimed primarily at identifying and documenting the pandemic’s harm on children’s psychological well-being (Kempen 2021; Singh et al. 2020) .  \nAs pointed out by Hilgo Bruining and colleagues (2020), however, too much focus on harmful effects of the pandemic might prevent researchers from seeing potential beneficial effects. They pointed to clinical observations suggesting that the lockdown-induced changes in daily routines “seemed to actually reduce child and adolescent mental illness symptoms and even improve wellbeing”(n.p.). They urged that studies be designed in such a way as to identify positive as well as negative effects of the pandemic-induced changes in families’lives and to look for healthy ways that families coped—not just at their suffering.  \nIn theory, there are several reasons for thinking that children’s mental health might improve, at least temporarily, as a result of the pandemic lockdown. These include a reduction in the stress of school; increased time to play and in oth","cbCaimg3SbQ0xgR7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimg3SbQ0xgR7","pdf",166557,"English","# How children coped during early lockdown\n## Survey findings and child well-being\n## Early predictions versus observed outcomes\n## Study design: identifying positive and negative effects\n## Theoretical reasons for improved mental health\n## Play, stress, and Self-Determination Theory","[{\"question\":\"What did surveys in the first months after school lockdown find about children’s anxiety and happiness?\",\"answer\":\"Children were less anxious than before the pandemic and were much more likely to describe themselves as happy than sad.\"},{\"question\":\"How did children spend their free time during the lockdown?\",\"answer\":\"They used free time to discover and engage in new, self-chosen activities, and many helped out at home.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Self-Determination Theory explain possible mental well-being improvements during lockdown?\",\"answer\":\"It suggests psychological well-being depends on satisfying needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which may have been met more during lockdown than before.\"}]","How Children Coped in the First Months of the Pandemic Lockdown | PDF",1792073242]