International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Behavioral and Emotional Aspects and Daily Routines of Arab Israeli Children Rafat Ghanamah 1,2,*,† and Hazar Eghbaria-Ghanamah 2,† 1 Early Childhood Education Department, Oranim Academic College of Education, Kiryat Tevo’n 3600600, Israel 2 Edmond. J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] † These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Negative psychological effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been identified in adults and children, such as anxiety and sleep disorders. However, research about the impact of this pandemic on children from ethnical minorities is scarce. We tested the effects of COVID-19 outbreak on psychological aspects and daily routines among Arab Israeli Children. An online cross- sectional survey was conducted among Arab Israeli parents, including behavioral and emotional aspects questionnaire and questions addressing using of screens, sleep, and physical activities. The results showed that, during the COVID-19 outbreak, 55.8% of the children asked to sleep in their parents’ bed and 45% expressed fears they did not have before. Most of the children showed increased irritability, constant mood swings and nervousness about limits and messages, and 41.4% showed sleep difficulties. Concerning adaptive behaviors, more than 50% of the parents reported that their Citation: Ghanamah, R.; Eghbaria-Ghanamah, H. Impact of child became wiser, lazier, and was able to adapt the limits and restriction of the COVID-19 outbreak. COVID-19 Pandemic on Behavioral Moreover, the children tended to increase their use of screens, used to sleep more time, and were and Emotional Aspects and Daily less active physically.