Child Factors Associated with Well-Being in Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analysis

Kristine Lyn Pesigan (2022-23)

Abstract

The aim of this meta-analysis study was to examine the most salient individual-level factors (i.e., child characteristics) associated with well-being in youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic search of several databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Ovid, CINAHL, ProQuest) was

conducted and include titles dated from 2019 (the inception of COVID-19) to June 30, 2022. The search yielded 443 articles for full-text review and 40 non-duplicate studies were included for data extraction. The study comprised a total of 44,696 youth with a mean age (range) of 14.02 (2.5-19.0) years, and 45.3% were male. The results revealed that emotion regulation, negative emotionality, and pathology were significantly associated with well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pooled mean effect sizes were .64 (0.36 to 0.81, 95% CI) which indicates a large effect size, -.34 (-0.44 to -0.23, 95%), indicating a medium effect size, and -.44 (-0.54 to -0.33, 95% CI), indicating a medium to large effect size, respectively. The moderators that were examined were age, sex (percent male), COVID-19 date (calculated as number of months since March 2020), and methodological quality score. Results of moderator analysis showed that only age was a significant moderator, where increase in age decreased the association between emotion regulation and youth well-being (b = -0.56; 95% CI -.90, -.23). The results of this study can be used to advance research on individual-level factors associated with well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and can be used to inform future prevention efforts targeting well-being in youth during times of crisis.