Kaylee Chan
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Danielle Labotka, Graduate Student Researcher
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 1 (10am-10:50am)
Breakout Room: Room 13
Presenter: 4
Abstract
Children are often told in school to wash their hands or to cover their sneezes to prevent viral transmission. Although children are more compliant with these suggestions when they understand the causal reasoning behind them, these reminders don’t include an explanation of why that action will prevent them from getting sick. Given children’s role in transmitting illness, it is important to identify effective means of educating them on how to prevent viral transmission, especially in the midst of a pandemic. Previous research on children’s understanding of germs have indicated that their knowledge is influenced by a number of factors. Given the amount of time children have spent at home over this past year, this study examines how parent education level affects the accuracy of children’s biological knowledge of COVID-19 transmission. We interviewed 180 children between the ages of 5 and 12 on their understanding of COVID-19 transmission. In particular, children were asked to identify whether a series of behaviors (e.g., singing together) could transmit COVID-19. Parents of these participants also completed a survey about their household and their experiences with COVID-19. Data analyses are ongoing. However, it is predicted that with higher levels of parental education, children will be more likely to identify behaviors that transmit COVID-19 accurately, as parents with higher levels of education may have greater understanding of the causal mechanisms behind transmission and may communicate them to their children more frequently. The results from this study will provide us insight into the extent of parental influence on children’s biological knowledge, which may, in turn, allow us to identify potential sites of intervention in schools and public health campaigns.
Authors: Kaylee Chan, Danielle Labotka
Research Method: Qualitative Study
