Examining The Resiliency of Preschool Children in The COVID-19 Pandemic Period Based on Age and Gender

Abstract

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, various measures have been taken in Turkey to protect community health. All schools in Turkey have been closed since 16 March 2020. The normalisation process started along with the decrease in the number of cases in summer, and children’s lockdown was abolished on 10 June 2020. Rearising of cases as from August delayed the planned opening of the 2020-2021 academic year fall term. Thus, the Ministry of National Education, which is among the institutions taking new measures related to the process, created a stage-by-stage transition plan, in which face-to-face education and distance education are carried out in cooperation, for the opening of schools. Main goal of the study was to examine the ego-resiliency levels of the children between the ages of five and six years according to age and gender variables during the COVID-19 period. The study group consisted of 223 children from the age group of five and six years. As a result of the study, it was found that girls had higher resiliency levels than their boys peers. Another finding was that there was no significant difference in the resiliency levels of the children between the ages of five and six years.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Ego-resiliency
• Preschool children

References

1. Afifi, T. O., & MacMillan, H. L. (2011). Resilience following child maltreatment: A review of protective factors. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(5), 266-272.
2. Adagideli, F., & Şahan Aktan, B. (2018). Components of effortful control and their relations to children’s ego-resiliency. International Primary Education Research Journal, 2(1), 1-8.
3. Aslan, R. (2020). How does COVID 19 effect physıology and psychology? Detail Journal, 8(88), 47-53 (in Turkish).
4. Bayındır, D, Balaban Dağal, A, & Önder, A. (2018). The ınvestigation of emotion regulation skills according to ego resiliency levels of 60-72 months old Turkish preschoolers. Adiyaman University Journal of Social Sciences, 29, 377-400. (in Turkish).
5. BBC NEWS, (2020). Coronavirus map. 01 December 2020 retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-51719684 (in Turkish)
6. Beyond Blue Ltd. (2017). Building resilience in children aged 0–12: A practice guide. 01 December 2020 retrieved from https://www.beyondblue.org.au/who-does-it-affect/children/building-resilience-in-children-aged-0-12.
7. Binbaşıoğlu, C. (1998). A study on child education in Turkey according to traditional culture. Ankara: Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture Publications (in Turkish).
8. Block, J., & Block, J. H. (2006). Venturing a 30-year longitudinal study. American Psychologist, 61, 315–327.

9. Budak, F., & Korkmaz, Ş. (2020). An overall evaluation for the COVID-19 pandemic process: The case of Turkey. Journal of Social Research and Management (SAYOD), (1), 62-79 (in Turkish).
10. Cumberland-Li A, Eisenberg N, & Reiser M. (2004). Relations of young children’s agreeableness and resiliency to effortful control and impulsivity. Social Development, 13, 193–212.
11. Calışkan, Y. (2020). COVID -19 pandemic and quarantine process on child mental health. Medical Research Reports, 3(Special Issue), 149-154 (in Turkish).
12. Çorapçı F., Aksan N., Arslan -Yalçın D. & Yağmurlu B. (2010). Emotional, behavioral and social adjustment screening at school entry: social competence and behavior evaluation-30 scale. Turkish Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 17(2), 63-74 (in Turkish).
13. Eisenberg N., Spinrad T. L., Fabes R. A., Reiser M., Cumberland A., Shepard S. A., & Thompson, M. (2004). The relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children’s resiliency and adjustment. Child Development, 75 (1), 25–46.
14. Gizir C. A. (2007). A literature review of studies on resilience, risk, and protectıve factors. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 3, 113-126 (in Turkish).
15. Grotberg, E. H. (1995). A guide to promoting resilience in children: Strengthening the human spirit (No. 8). The Hague, Netherlands: Bernard van leer foundation.
16. Gülay Ogelman, H., & Çiftçi Topaloğlu, Z. (2014). Monitoring the relationships between social competence, aggression, anxiety levels of 4-5 year old children and their mother and father’s parental perceptions of self-efficacy. Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Journal of Faculty of Education, 14 (1) 241-271 (in Turkish).
17. Gültekin Akduman, G., Günindi, Y. & Türkoğlu, D. (2015). The investigation of the relations between social skills level and behavioral problems in preschool children. The Journal of International Social Research, 37, 673-683 (in Turkish).
18. Karaırmak, Ö. (2006). Resilience, risk and protective factors. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 3(26), 129-142 (in Turkish).
19. Masten AS, & Coatsworth JD. (1998). The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: lessons from research on successful children. American Psychologist. 53, 205-220.
20. Masten A. S., & Gewirtz A. H. (2006). Resilience in development: The importance of early childhood. In: Tremblay RE, Barr RG, Peters RDeV, eds. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development; 1-6.
21. Mihaela, T. I. (2015). Promoting the emotional wellbeing of preschoolers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 209, 509-513. Miljević-Riđički, R., Plantak, K., & Bouillet, D. (2017). Resilience in preschool children: The perspectives of teachers, parents and children. International Journal of Emotional Education, 9(2), 31–43.
22. Önder, A., & Gülay, H. (2008). Resilience of 8 Grade Students in Relation to Various Variables. Buca Faculty of Education Journal, (23), 192-197 (in Turkish).
23. Önder, A., & Gülay-Ogelman, H. (2011). The reliability-validity study for the Ego Resiliency Scale (Teacher-Mother-Father Forms) for children aged between 5 and 6, International Refereed Academic Social Sciences Journal, 2(1), 5-21.
24. Özdamar, K. (2004). Statistical data analysis with package programs 2. Eskişehir: Kaan Publishing (in Turkish).
25. Reed-Victor, E., & Stronge, J. H. (2002). Homeless students and resilience: Staff perspectives on ındividual and environmental factors, Journal of Children Poverty, 8(2), 159-183.
26. Swanson J., Valiente C., Lemery-Chalfant K., & O’Brien T. C. (2011). Predicting early adolescents’ academic achievement, social competence, and physical health from parenting, ego resilience, and engagement coping. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 31,548–576.
27. Sun, J., & Stewart, D. (2007). Age and gender effects on resilience in children and adolescents. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 9(4), 16–25.
28. Taylor, Z. E., Eisenberg, N., VanSchyndel, S. K., Eggum-Wilkens, N. D., & Spinrad, T. L. (2014). Children’s negative emotions and ego-resiliency: Longitudinal relations with social competence. Emotion, 14(2), 397–406.
29. The Ministry of Education (2020). Face-to-Face Education in Pre-School Education. 01 December 2020 retrieved from http://ookgm.meb.gov.tr/meb_iys_dosyalar/2020_11/20133842_okul-oncesi-egitim-kurumlarinda-yuz-yuze-egitim.pdf (in Turkish).
30. Turan, U. D. C. K., & Hacımustafaoğlu, M. K. (2020). Coronavirus disease in children 2019 (COVID-19): Differences and approaches in children (pp. 81-106). In Heper, C. (Ed.), Multidisipliner COVID-19. Bursa, Bursa Chamber of Medicine publications. 01 December 2020 retrieved from https://www.ttb.org.tr/kollar/userfiles/files/bto_covid_19_kitap.pdf#page=82 (in Turkish)
31. Um, B. (2018). Ego-resiliency, parenting style, and peer attachment as predictors of South Korean middle school students’ school adjustment. Redfame: International Journal of Social Science Studies, 6(7), 14-30.
32. Yağan Guder, S. (2014). Investigating preschool children’s perception of gender. Doctoral dissertation. Ankara: Hacettepe University (in Turkish).