IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0302995.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health-related quality of life and impact of socioeconomic status among primary and secondary school students after the third COVID-19 wave in Berlin, Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Mascha Kern
  • Toivo Glatz
  • Marcus A Mall
  • Joachim Seybold
  • Tobias Kurth
  • Frank P Mockenhaupt
  • Stefanie Theuring

Abstract

In the earlier phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, studies in Germany and elsewhere found an overall reduction in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among students. However, there is little evidence on later pandemic stages as well as socioeconomic influencing factors. We aimed to (1) describe HRQoL in a Berlin student cohort at two time points in mid-2021, and to (2) analyze the effects of household income and education. We assessed HRQoL of students from 24 randomly selected primary and secondary schools in Berlin, Germany, with the KIDSCREEN-10 index in June and September 2021. To adjust for non-response bias, inverse probability weighting was applied. The potential effects of both household income and education (lower vs. higher) were estimated in generalized linear mixed models, based on prior assumptions presented in directed acyclic graphs. Our cohort comprised 660 students aged 7–19 years. In June 2021, 11.3% [95% CI = 9.0% - 14.0%] reported low HRQoL, whereas in September 2021, this increased to 13.7% [95% CI = 11.1% - 16.5%], with adolescent girls more frequently reporting low HRQoL at both time points (20% [95% CI = 17.1% - 23.3%] and 29% [95% CI = 25.5% - 32.5%]) compared to boys and younger children. While there was no statistically significant total effect of lower household income on HRQoL, a negative effect of lower household education was statistically significant (β = -2.15, SE 0.95, 95% CI = -4.01 to -0.29, p = 0.024). In summary, students’ HRQoL in mid-2021 was better than that documented in other studies conducted at pandemic onset using KIDSCREEN-10. Female adolescents reported low HRQoL more often, and lower household education significantly reduced children’s HRQoL. Support strategies for psychosocial wellbeing should consider socioeconomically disadvantaged children as important target groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Mascha Kern & Toivo Glatz & Marcus A Mall & Joachim Seybold & Tobias Kurth & Frank P Mockenhaupt & Stefanie Theuring, 2024. "Health-related quality of life and impact of socioeconomic status among primary and secondary school students after the third COVID-19 wave in Berlin, Germany," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(5), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0302995
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302995
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302995
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302995&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0302995?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agostinelli, Francesco & Doepke, Matthias & Sorrenti, Giuseppe & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2022. "When the great equalizer shuts down: Schools, peers, and parents in pandemic times," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    2. Kerris Cooper & Kitty Stewart, 2021. "Does Household Income Affect children’s Outcomes? A Systematic Review of the Evidence," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(3), pages 981-1005, June.
    3. Jiayu Zhang & Liu Hong & Gaoming Ma, 2022. "Socioeconomic Status, Peer Social Capital, and Quality of Life of High School Students During COVID-19: A Mediation Analysis," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 3005-3021, October.
    4. William Boyce & Torbjorn Torsheim & Candace Currie & Alessio Zambon, 2006. "The Family Affluence Scale as a Measure of National Wealth: Validation of an Adolescent Self-Report Measure," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 473-487, September.
    5. Ariel Kalil & Susan Mayer & Rohen Shah, 2020. "Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Family Dynamics in Economically Vulnerable Households," Working Papers 2020-143, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mia Hakovirta & Johanna Kallio, 2016. "Children’s Perceptions of Poverty," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(2), pages 317-334, June.
    2. Emanuele Amodio & Michele Battisti & Antonio Francesco Gravina & Andrea Mario Lavezzi & Giuseppe Maggio, 2023. "School‐age vaccination, school openings and Covid‐19 diffusion," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1084-1100, May.
    3. Ainoa Aparicio Fenoll, 2025. "The different effects of Covid on children with parents in teleworkable and non-teleworkable occupations," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-28, March.
    4. Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & Dirk Krueger & André Kurmann & Etienne Lalé & Alexander Ludwig & Irina Popova, 2023. "The Fiscal and Welfare Effects of Policy Responses to the Covid-19 School Closures," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(1), pages 35-98, March.
    5. Jaroslava Kopcakova & Zuzana Dankulincova Veselska & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Daniel Klein & Jitse P. Dijk & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2018. "Are school factors and urbanization supportive for being physically active and engaging in less screen-based activities?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(3), pages 359-366, April.
    6. Yekaterina Chzhen & Jennifer Symonds & Dympna Devine & Júlia Mikolai & Susan Harkness & Seaneen Sloan & Gabriela Martinez Sainz, 2022. "Learning in a Pandemic: Primary School children’s Emotional Engagement with Remote Schooling during the spring 2020 Covid-19 Lockdown in Ireland," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(4), pages 1517-1538, August.
    7. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Greenwood, Jeremy & Guner, Nezih & Kopecky, Karen, 2024. "The Role of Friends in the Opioid Epidemic," CEPR Discussion Papers 18803, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Harbatkin, Erica & Strunk, Katharine O. & McIlwain, Aliyah, 2023. "School turnaround in a pandemic: An examination of the outsized implications of COVID-19 on low-performing turnaround schools, districts, and their communities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Borgonovi, Francesca & Ferrara, Alessandro, 2022. "A longitudinal perspective on the effects of Covid-19 on students' resilience. The Effect of the pandemic on the reading and mathematics achievement of 8th and 5th graders in Italy," SocArXiv 94erb_v1, Center for Open Science.
    10. Elgar, Frank J. & De Clercq, Bart & Schnohr, Christina W. & Bird, Phillippa & Pickett, Kate E. & Torsheim, Torbjørn & Hofmann, Felix & Currie, Candace, 2013. "Absolute and relative family affluence and psychosomatic symptoms in adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 25-31.
    11. Iqbal,Syedah Aroob & Patrinos,Harry Anthony, 2023. "Learning during the Pandemic : Evidence from Uzbekistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10474, The World Bank.
    12. Ana I. Moro Egido & Maria Navarro, 2023. "Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Strain and High School Dropout," ThE Papers 23/07, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    13. Monique de Haan & Magnus Stubhaug, 2024. "The causal component in the intergenerational transmission of income," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-063/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Haelermans, Carla & Jacobs, Madelon & van Vugt, Lynn & Aarts, Bas & Abbink, Henry & Smeets, Chayenne & van der Velden, Rolf & van Wetten, Sanne, 2021. "A full year COVID-19 crisis with interrupted learning and two school closures: The effects on learning growth and inequality in primary education," ROA Research Memorandum 009, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    15. Klocke, Andreas & Stadtmüller, Sven, 2024. "Two generations later: New evidence on health equalisation in youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    16. Sebastian Wachs & Michelle F. Wright, 2018. "Associations between Bystanders and Perpetrators of Online Hate: The Moderating Role of Toxic Online Disinhibition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-9, September.
    17. Sabine Zinn & Michael Bayer, 2021. "Time Spent on School-Related Activities at Home during the Pandemic: A Longitudinal Analysis of Social Group Inequality among Secondary School Students," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1132, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    18. David R. Agrawal & Aline Bütikofer, 2022. "Public finance in the era of the COVID-19 crisis," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(6), pages 1349-1372, December.
    19. Joanne Nicole Luke & Alister Thorpe & Carlina Black & Lisa Thorpe & David Thomas & Sandra Eades & Kevin Rowley, 2021. "Collaborative Social-Epidemiology: A Co-analysis of the Cultural and Structural Determinants of Health for Aboriginal Youth in Victorian Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-22, August.
    20. Main, Gill, 2019. "Child poverty and subjective well-being: The impact of children's perceptions of fairness and involvement in intra-household sharing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 49-58.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0302995. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.