Emotional and behavioural dysregulation in children of health care workers in the frontline of COVID-19 response in Sri Lanka

Abstract

A novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) causing respiratory failure was recognised in Wuhan China and the World Health Organization declared the infection a pandemic. Thousands of lives have been lost and the health care workers working in the frontlines are susceptible to morbidity and mortality due to the highly contagious virus. Significant psychological consequences such as sleep disturbance, anxiety, depressive symptoms, somatization, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in health workers have been reported from China. We were unable to access any reports of mental health consequences in children of health workers. Parental psychological distress is known to affect children’s mental wellbeing significantly and we report three children presenting with emotional and behavioural dysregulation whose parents are frontline COVID-19 health care workers in Sri Lanka.