On-Line Assessment of Self-Regulatory Skills in Children During the Covid-19 Pandemic.

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

Background. Self-regulation involves a diverse series of cognitive and emotional processes that contribute to goal-oriented behaviors in daily activities, from early stages of the life cycle. Their developmental trajectories can be modulated by different individual and contextual factors (e.g., parental mental health, SES). The lockdowns generated during the COVID-19 pandemic constitute scenarios containing risk factors for self-regulatory processes: Increased indicators of anxiety, depression, insomnia and loneliness in children and adults, interruption or modification of routines, closing of schools, reduction of social contacts, interruption of health and social services controls, loss of work and reduction of income (UN, 2020; WHO, 2020).
Objectives and hypotheses. (a) Describe the performance in different tasks tapping cognitive and emotional processes in children from 5 to 14 years of age during the pandemic in different countries; and (b) analyze the associations between these performances and children's experiences and home living conditions. It is expected to find varying levels and trajectories of performance depending on the age of the participants, and the risk factors related to home living conditions (i.e., better performance in higher SES and home conditions).
Methods. Design. In July 2020, we implemented a prospective longitudinal design with 4 assessment rounds every 6 months. Participants. The target sample is 200 children from 5 to 14 years old from countries with the official languages English and Spanish. Recruitment is done through a flyer disseminated on academic and social networks that gives access to a page with a description of the study, consent and registration. Subsequently, the caregivers receive an email and SMS message to access the activity platform. The procedures were approved by the IRB. For this presentation it is planned to present the information corresponding to the first round. Cognitive and emotional assessment. We administered 9 tasks in two weekly sessions that assess aspects of attention, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, type of cognitive control (i.e., reactive/proactive), fluid processing and identification of emotions. The tasks are based on similar computerized ones used in previous studies (Giovannetti et al., 2020; Goldin et al., 2014). Variables of interest are correct and incorrect answers and reaction times. Context information. Children's experiences and living conditions in the homes questionnaire (to be answered by the caretakers) includes dimensions referring to family composition, children's health history, levels of stimulation at homes, access to information, sleep, physical activity, recreational activities , social experiences, and household financial resources. Analytical plan. (a) Descriptive statistics of the performance based on age, gender in each task (efficiency and reaction times), and the contextual variables; (b) principal component analysis to identify commonalities between the different tasks; and (c) regression analysis in order to identify contextual predictors of performance in terms of factor loadings to be identified in the previous step. Between the months of July and September 2020, 94 children have completed the first round, for which it is estimated that the objectives can be completed for April 2021.

Authors

• María Soledad Segretin, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
  Presenting Author

• Derek Lomas, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, TU Delft
  Non-Presenting Author

• Raj Anunay, NeuroUX
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sebastian Javier Lipina, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
  Non-Presenting Author