Among 757 eligible participants, 742 (258 males and 484 females) were included in the subsequent data analysis and responded to the question on whether they have a child 16 years of age or under. 39.4% [292/742] of respondents stated they had at least one child 16 years of age or under. Nearly 60 percent of participants ranging in age from 35 to 54 had children aged 16 years and under. Of those participants who said they had poor health, less than one third had children aged 16 years and under. Further details on participant characteristics are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Characteristics of study participants (n=742)
Characteristics†
|
|
Participants with children ≤16
years, n (%)
|
|
|
Yes (n=292)
|
No (n=450)
|
Province
|
Ontario
|
245 (39.4)
|
377 (60.6)
|
|
British Columbia
|
22 (38.6)
|
35 (61.4)
|
|
Other provinces
|
25 (39.7)
|
38 (60.3)
|
Gender
|
Male
|
97 (37.6)
|
161 (62.4)
|
|
Female
|
195 (40.3)
|
289 (59.7)
|
Age group
|
≤34
|
17 (12.0)
|
125 (88.0)
|
|
35-54
|
228 (58.8)
|
160 (41.2)
|
|
55+
|
46 (21.8)
|
165 (78.2)
|
Birthplace
|
Mainland China
|
286 (39.8)
|
433 (60.2)
|
|
Other places
|
6 (26.1)
|
17 (73.9)
|
Living in Canada
|
No more than 5 years
|
69 (42.9)
|
92 (57.1)
|
|
More than 5 years
|
223 (38.4)
|
357 (61.6)
|
Marital status
|
Married/Common law
|
259 (46.5)
|
298 (53.5)
|
|
Other
|
33 (17.8)
|
152 (82.2)
|
Education
|
High school or less
|
20 (51.3)
|
19 (48.7)
|
|
College/University
|
177 (40.2)
|
263 (59.8)
|
|
Master degree or higher
|
93 (36.0)
|
165 (64.0)
|
Health worker
|
No
|
266 (38.7)
|
422 (61.3)
|
|
Yes
|
26 (49.1)
|
27 (50.9)
|
Living status
|
Living alone
|
3 (4.0)
|
72 (96.0)
|
|
Not living alone
|
289 (43.3)
|
378 (56.7)
|
Employment status
|
Employment
|
97 (34.3)
|
186 (65.7)
|
|
Retire
|
28 (31.5)
|
61 (68.5)
|
|
Other
|
167 (45.1)
|
203 (54.9)
|
Income satisfaction
|
Dissatisfied
|
51 (37.0)
|
87 (63.0)
|
|
Neutral
|
126 (43.4)
|
164 (56.6)
|
|
Satisfied
|
105 (36.3)
|
184 (63.7)
|
Health status
|
Poor
|
9 (29.0)
|
22 (71.0)
|
|
Average
|
77 (39.9)
|
116 (60.1)
|
|
Good
|
201 (39.6)
|
306 (60.4)
|
† System-missing was classified into the category “Other” if such a response option category existed
for that survey item.
Table 2 describes participants’ knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically regarding the source, transmission route, and disease susceptibility. While most participants actively paid attention to information related to COVID-19 through various channels, there were still a considerable number of participants who had some misconceptions about COVID-19. Specifically, 36.1% of participants believed that the virus might originate from a high-level biosafety laboratory, even though only 6.2% of them consider COVID-19 as a kind of biological weapon. Almost all participants agreed that physical contact and respiratory droplets (e.g., saliva) are important routes for transmitting the COVID-19 virus. A total of 72.9% of participants were aware of airborne transmission. Although more than 60% of the participants agreed that the elderly and immunosuppressed were vulnerable populations, more than half of them also agreed that “in general, all populations are susceptible to COVID-19” (note that these were not mutually exclusive options). As shown in table 3, regardless of whether the participants have children aged 16 years and under, there were no significant differences in their knowledge of COVID-19. When participants were asked about their perceived likelihood of contracting COVID-19, a significant difference was observed between those with and without children aged 16 years and under (χ2(2) = 7.513, P=0.023).
Table 2 Knowledge of COVID-19 (n=742)
Knowledge of COVID-19
|
Total n (%)
|
Participants with children ≤16 years,
n (%)
|
χ2(1)
|
P
|
|
Yes (n=292)
|
No (n=450)
|
|
|
K1. Virus source†
|
|
|
|
3.382
|
.338
|
Wild animals
|
280 (37.7)
|
102 (34.9)
|
178 (39.6)
|
|
|
High bio-safety laboratory
|
268 (36.1)
|
117 (40.1)
|
151 (33.6)
|
|
|
A kind of biological weapon
|
46 (6.2)
|
18 (6.2)
|
28 (6.2)
|
|
|
Other
|
148 (19.9)
|
55 (18.8)
|
93 (20.7)
|
|
|
K2. Transmission route
|
|
|
|
|
|
Airborne
|
541 (72.9)
|
223 (76.4)
|
318 (70.7)
|
2.916
|
.091
|
Contact transmission
|
698 (94.1)
|
276 (94.5)
|
422 (93.8)
|
0.175
|
.752
|
Droplet transmission (e.g., saliva)
|
726 (97.8)
|
285 (97.6)
|
441 (98.0)
|
0.132
|
.798
|
Oral-fecal transmission
|
429 (57.8)
|
158 (54.1)
|
271 (60.2)
|
2.713
|
.110
|
Other
|
69 (9.3)
|
22 (7.5)
|
47 (10.4)
|
1.778
|
.198
|
K3. Susceptible population
|
|
|
|
|
|
Older people (older than 50)
|
445 (60.0)
|
179 (61.3)
|
266 (59.1)
|
0.354
|
.592
|
Teenagers
|
84 (11.3)
|
28 (9.6)
|
56 (12.4)
|
1.438
|
.239
|
People who are immune suppressed
|
506 (68.2)
|
205 (70.2)
|
301 (66.9)
|
0.898
|
.375
|
All people are equally susceptible
|
401 (54.0)
|
153 (52.4)
|
248 (55.1)
|
0.525
|
.498
|
†Responses to the question on virus source were mutually exclusive, so only one Chi-square test was performed, whereas the responses to questions on transmission route and susceptible populations were not necessarily mutually exclusive so Chi-square tests were performed for each row.
* indicates statistically significant difference at the level of 0.05.
Furthermore, the perceived likelihood of getting COVID-19 was positively correlated with having children aged 16 years and under (Spearman's ρ = 0.102, Pρ = 0.007), with a Spearman rank correlation coefficient equal to 0.102 (Table 3).
Table 3 Perceived likelihood of getting COVID-19 (n=742)
Perceived likelihood of getting COVID-19
|
Participants with children ≤16 years, n (%) |
χ2(2) |
Pχ2 |
ρ |
Pρ |
Yes (n=292) |
No (n=450) |
|
|
|
7.513 |
.023* |
.102 |
.007* |
Unlikely |
96 (35.7) |
196 (46.0) |
|
|
|
|
Neutral |
126 (46.8) |
173 (40.6) |
|
|
|
|
Likely |
47 (17.5) |
57 (13.4) |
|
|
|
|
* indicates statistically significant difference at the level of 0.05.
To assess the psychological impact of the pandemic, we asked participants about how they felt the pandemic had affected their psychological wellbeing.. Overall, more than half of them did not feel relaxed, nearly half felt anxious and stressed, and more than one-third felt scared and confused (Table 4). Consistent with our hypothesis, more parents of children aged 16 years and under suffered from negative emotions such as not feeling at ease (χ2 = 6.077, P = 0.047), depressed (χ2 = 10.033, P = 0.007), and stressed (χ2 = 9.253, P = 0.010).
Table 4 Psychological feelings about COVID-19
Feeling
|
Total n (%)
|
Participants with children ≤16 years, n (%)
|
χ2(2)
|
P
|
Yes (n=292)
|
No (n=450)
|
At ease
|
|
|
|
6.077
|
.047*
|
Disagree
|
358 (54.7)
|
143 (57.4)
|
215 (53.0)
|
|
|
Neutral
|
211 (32.2)
|
67 (26.9)
|
144 (35.5)
|
|
|
Agree
|
86 (13.1)
|
39 (15.7)
|
47 (15.7)
|
|
|
Scared
|
|
|
|
2.155
|
.344
|
Disagree
|
180 (25.1)
|
69 (24.2)
|
111 (25.6)
|
|
|
Neutral
|
254 (35.4)
|
94 (33.0)
|
160 (37.0)
|
|
|
Agree
|
284 (39.6)
|
122 (42.8)
|
162 (37.4)
|
|
|
Anxious
|
|
|
|
3.269
|
.194
|
Disagree
|
170 (23.8)
|
63 (22.3)
|
107 (24.8)
|
|
|
Neutral
|
223 (31.2)
|
81 (28.6)
|
142 (32.9)
|
|
|
Agree
|
321 (45.0)
|
139 (49.1)
|
182 (42.2)
|
|
|
Depressed
|
|
|
|
10.033
|
.007*
|
Disagree
|
273 (43.2)
|
97 (37.9)
|
176 (46.8)
|
|
|
Neutral
|
191 (30.2)
|
74 (28.9)
|
117 (31.1)
|
|
|
Agree
|
168 (26.6)
|
85 (33.2)
|
83 (22.1)
|
|
|
Stressed
|
|
|
|
9.253
|
.010*
|
Disagree
|
178 (25.9)
|
65 (23.4)
|
113 (27.6)
|
|
|
Neutral
|
194 (28.2)
|
66 (23.7)
|
128 (31.2)
|
|
|
Agree
|
316 (45.9)
|
147 (52.9)
|
169 (41.2)
|
|
|
Indecisive
|
|
|
|
3.827
|
.149
|
Disagree
|
255 (38.9)
|
96 (36.0)
|
159 (41.0)
|
|
|
Neutral
|
225 (34.4)
|
89 (33.3)
|
136 (35.1)
|
|
|
Agree
|
175 (26.7)
|
82 (30.7)
|
93 (24.0)
|
|
|
Confused
|
|
|
|
3.940
|
.139
|
Disagree
|
205 (31.4)
|
72 (27.6)
|
133 (33.9)
|
|
|
Neutral
|
202 (30.9)
|
80 (30.7)
|
122 (31.1)
|
|
|
Agree
|
246 (37.7)
|
109 (41.8)
|
137 (34.9)
|
|
|
* indicates statistically significant difference at the level of 0.05.
In terms of protective behaviors against COVID-19, parents of children aged 16 years and under were found to have adopted protective behaviors, such as covering a sneeze with elbows or tissue paper, washing hands frequently (with soap), wearing a mask in public, maintaining social distance, limiting use of public transportation, avoiding or canceling group activities, and educating children about preventative behaviors (Figure 1, Additional file 1: Table S1).
Although fathers performed well, mothers performed significantly better at wearing masks in public places and maintaining social distance (P=0.034 and P=0.001, respectively). Almost all participants claimed they wash their hands frequently, while only two-thirds of them used alcohol-based hand sanitizer. More than three in four mothers (>75 percent) said they would disinfect their surroundings, while only approximately 60 percent of fathers responded that they would (χ2(1) =10.13, P=0.002). A similar trend was observed for wearing gloves in public, where mothers fared better (χ2(1) =11.72, P=0.001). During the early period of COVID-19, 80.6 percent of parents of children aged 16 years and under said they would stock up on some non-perishable food and supplies and 67.1% said they would buy dietary supplements or medicines. Compared to fathers, significantly more mothers said they would stock up on non-perishable food and supplies (85.1% vs. 72.2%, χ2(1) =7.02, P=0.011) and buy dietary supplements or medicines (72.3% vs. 56.7%, χ2(1) =7.15, P=0.008). Prior to the school closures, very few parents stated that they would ask their children to stay at home (35.1% for fathers and 27.2% for mothers), however, 83.2 percent of them stated they would ask their children to avoid group activities.