RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OPTIMISM-PESSIMISM LEVELS OF MOTHERS AND ANXIETY LEVELS OF CHILDREN IN TURKEY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

BACKGROUNDThe COVID-19 pandemic affects all aspects of the population including children, elderly, and vulnerable people. The aim of this study is to examine, for the first time, the relationship optimism-pessimism levels of mothers and anxiety level of children in turkey during COVID-19 pandemic. SUBJECTS AND METHODSOptimism-Pessimism Scale and Preschool Anxiety Scale were used to collect data from a representative sample of 33,362 mothers with children aged 3-6 years. RESULTSOf the parents, 53% of them reported that their children were slightly anxious due to COVID-19 pandemic. Lower optimism and higher pessimism were significantly related with higher levels of children's anxiety including social, generalized, separation, and overall anxiety as well as obvious fear. Group comparison analysis indicated that very anxious children reported the highest level of different types of anxiety and fear compared to less anxious and not at all anxious children. CONCLUSIONThese findings suggest that mental health of children has been adversely affected during the pandemic and this has important implications for designing and implementing interventions aimed at reducing anxiety levels of children and determining protective and risk factors associated with anxiety in the face of adversity.