嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎對於18歲以下兒童的執行功能、焦慮與睡眠狀況影響之相關研究：以焦慮作為調節變項

Abstract

根據臺灣衛生福利部數據顯示，2020年初開始臺灣確診嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎（coronavirus disease-2019, COVID-19）的人數持續攀升，曾確診COVID-19的個案可能在康復後持續出現認知功能障礙（俗稱腦霧）、睡眠困擾、焦慮等情況。由於兒童階段為個體發展歷程的關鍵時期，了解確診COVID-19對兒童執行功能、焦慮、睡眠狀況影響有其重要性，因此本研究旨在探討COVID-19兒童的執行功能、焦慮程度與睡眠狀況之間關聯性，並釐清焦慮程度是否能調節執行功能對睡眠狀況之預測關係。本研究採病歷回顧，以臺灣地區164位確診COVID-19兒童作為研究對象，從病歷中取得兒童基本資料、執行功能表現、焦慮程度與睡眠狀況進行研究分析。研究結果顯示：曾確診COVID-19兒童整體睡眠困擾程度越高，其執行功能整體表現越差；且曾確診COVID-19兒童焦慮程度可部分調節其睡眠狀況與執行功能之間關係，意旨兒童焦慮程度較低時，其睡眠狀況和執行功能關係呈負向關聯；兒童焦慮程度較高時，其睡眠狀況和執行功能關係呈正向關聯；兒童焦慮程度為中等程度時，其焦慮程度對睡眠狀況與執行功能表現不具明顯調節效果。研究者根據研究結果給予相關建議，提供家長、教師與相關領域研究者參考，以利未來更細緻與全面的了解COVID-19對於兒童執行功能發展、心理健康之影響。

According to the data from Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan has continued to rise since early 2020. Beginning in 2023, Taiwan gradually shifted toward coexisting with COVID-19. Even after recovering from COVID-19, individuals may continue to experience persistent symptoms such as cognitive impairments (commonly referred to as"brain fog"), sleep disturbances, anxiety, and other symptoms. Given that childhood is a critical period in individual development, understanding the impact of COVID-19 infection on children's executive functioning, anxiety, and sleep status is of great importance. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationships among executive function, anxiety, and sleep status in children under the age of 18 who were infected with COVID-19, and to clarify whether anxiety moderates the predictive relationship between executive function and sleep status. This study conducts a medical data review, identifying 164 children under 18 years old diagnosed with COVID-19 in Taiwan as the research participants. Basic demographic information, executive function, anxiety, and sleep status were extracted from their medical records for analysis. The results indicated that higher sleep disturbances in children diagnosed with COVID-19 are associated with lower performance in executive function. Additionally, anxiety partially moderated the relationship between sleep and executive function in children diagnosed with COVID-19. Based on these findings, the researcher provided recommendations for parents, teachers, and future researchers to better understand the nuanced and comprehensive impact of COVID-19 on children’s executive function and mental health development.