Changes in emotion regulation skills of school age children from the eyes of healthcare workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Turkey: A cross‐sectional study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: While health workers were affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic on an individual and professional basis, their families and especially their children were directly or indirectly exposed to similar factors. This study aims to compare the emotion regulation competencies of school‐age children of healthcare workers in Turkey, before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic and to investigate their emotion regulation competencies during the pandemic in terms of care conditions, daily life activities and overall health. METHODS: This study used the purposeful sampling technique and was designed as a cross‐sectional and relational survey study. To conduct this study, permission was received from the Ministry of Health Directorate‐General for Health Services, COVID‐19 Research Evaluation Commission, and İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University Non‐Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Date/Decision no: 04.03.2021/0090). The data‐collection process was carried out online between March and July, 2021. A total of 106 healthcare workers who serve in pandemic clinics or fields participated in this study. In addition to the information forms prepared by the researchers of this study, the Emotion Regulation Scale (ERS), which was adapted into Turkish, was used. One‐way analysis of variance for independent samples was used for the analysis of variables, and paired samples t‐test was used to compare emotion regulation competencies before and during the pandemic. RESULTS: The children's total ERS scores increased during the pandemic (47.70 ± 8.35) when compared with their pre‐pandemic scores (44.86 ± 9.25), and furthermore this difference was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.000). The total mean ERS score of children with a healthcare worker parent increased significantly during the pandemic compared with the scores before the pandemic, which revealed that emotion regulation occurred at a lower level for these children. CONCLUSION: The effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the emotion regulation competencies of children whose parents are healthcare workers is evident.