Understanding the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the current generation of youth is critical for post-pandemic recovery planning. This study aimed to identify the most salient child (i.e., connectedness to caregivers, screen time, sleep, physical activity, peer relationships, and recreational activities) and family (i.e., COVID-19 financial impact, maternal depression and anxiety) factors associated with children’s mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, after controlling for pre-pandemic mental health. This study included 846 mother–child dyads (child age 9–11) from the All Our Families cohort. Mothers reported on the child’s pre-pandemic mental health at age 8 (2017–2019) and during COVID-19 (May–July 2020), the family’s financial impact due to COVID-19, and maternal depression and anxiety. During COVID-19 (July–August 2020), children reported on their screen time, sleep, physical activity, peer and family relationships, and recreational activities, as well as their happiness, anxiety and depression. After controlling for pre-pandemic anxiety, connectedness to caregivers (B − 0.16; 95% CI − 0.22 to − 0.09), child sleep (B − 0.11; 95% CI − 0.19 to − 0.04), and child screen time (B 0.11; 95% CI 0.04–0.17) predicted child COVID-19 anxiety symptoms. After controlling for pre-pandemic depression, connectedness to caregivers (B − 0.26; 95% CI − 0.32 to − 0.21) and screen time (B 0.09; 95% CI 0.02–0.16) predicted child COVID-19 depressive symptoms. After controlling for covariates, connectedness to caregivers (B 0.36; 95% CI 0.28–0.39) predicted child COVID-19 happiness. Fostering parent–child connections and promoting healthy device and sleep habits are critical modifiable factors that warrant attention in post-pandemic mental health recovery planning.

了解 COVID-19 大流行对当代青年的影响对于大流行后恢复计划至关重要。本研究旨在确定与照顾者相关的最显着的儿童（即与照顾者的联系、放映时间、睡眠、身体活动、同伴关系和娱乐活动）和家庭（即 COVID-19 财务影响、母亲抑郁和焦虑）因素在控制大流行前的心理健康后，儿童在 COVID-19 大流行期间的心理健康和福祉。这项研究包括来自“我们所有的家庭”队列的 846 名母子​​二人组（9-11 岁的儿童）。母亲们报告了孩子在 8 岁时（2017-2019 年）和 COVID-19 期间（2020 年 5 月-7 月）大流行前的心理健康状况、COVID-19 对家庭经济的影响，以及母亲的抑郁和焦虑。在 COVID-19（2020 年 7 月至 8 月）期间，孩子们报告了他们的放映时间、睡眠、身体活动、同伴和家庭关系、娱乐活动，以及他们的快乐、焦虑和抑郁。在控制大流行前的焦虑后，与照顾者的联系（B -0.16；95% CI − 0.22 至 − 0.09）、儿童睡眠（B − 0.11；95% CI − 0.19 至 − 0.04）和儿童屏幕时间（B 0.11；95% CI 0.04-0.17）预测儿童 COVID-19 焦虑症状。在控制大流行前抑郁症后，与照顾者的联系（B − 0.26；95% CI − 0.32 至 − 0.21）和筛查时间（B 0.09；95% CI 0.02-0.16）预测儿童 COVID-19 抑郁症状。控制协变量后，与照顾者的联系（B 0.36；95% CI 0.28–0.39）预测儿童 COVID-19 的幸福感。培养亲子关系并促进健康的设备和睡眠习惯是关键的可修改因素，需要在大流行后心理健康恢复计划中予以关注。