While there are still many unknowns about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the unintended impacts of the pandemic and accompanying lockdowns, there are a few certainties. Our daily routines have changed – whether it be working remotely, wearing masks, mentally measuring 6 feet when we’re around other people, or becoming more compulsive about hand washing and hand sanitizing. We have all been impacted physically, mentally, and/or emotionally by this ordeal. As a result, there is probably no adult who would not recognize an image of a coronavirus.
How about children? How do they envision coronavirus?
Dr. Laetitia Martinerie and her colleagues in France point out that drawing is often a strategy that we use with children to help them explore their feelings or understanding of sometimes difficult topics. This week, Pediatrics is early releasing an article that evaluates children’s understanding and knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 through drawings. (10.1542/peds.2020-047621)
Children ages 5-17 years were first asked to draw a picture of a coronavirus and invited to make comments about their drawing. They then were shown 16 images (which included 3D illustrations or electron microscopy images of coronavirus, HIV, HPV, and other viruses or bacteria, and pictures of animals and plants), and asked to indicate which images depicted coronavirus and which did not.
A total of 103 children (mean age of 9 years) participated in the study.
When children drew pictures, half drew circles, 88% featured crowns on their drawings, and 56% had spikes. More than one-third of the pictures had anthropomorphic features (e.g., faces, arms, legs). The emotions expressed in these pictures varied. 18.4% of the faces had sad mouths, 21% had sharp teeth, and 26.3% were smiling. Six drawings depicted a devil. Equally telling were some of the comments that accompanied the drawings. Some described the virus in negative terms (“sticky,” “evil,” “the devil,” “suck blood”). Others saw the virus in positive terms (it meant that people paid more attention to infection control) or described the virus as being scared or being defeated.
Six of the 16 images in the image-recognition portion of the study were of SARS-CoV-2. Five of the 6 images were correctly identified by >70% of the children. All but 2 of the non-SARS-CoV-2 images were wrongly identified as being coronavirus by <10%. (The 2 exceptions were a 3D image of HIV and an electron microscopy image of HPV.)
Check out this compelling article – you’ll want to look at the children’s drawings, and their comments provide us with some insight into how these children have thought about and coped with the pandemic.
