{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T06:09:38Z","timestamp":1775628578821,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775606400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially affected daily life around the world. Social isolation, fear of infection, and discussion of protective measures were strongly conveyed in media and social discourse, including among children. Given this social dynamic, it is important to understand how the children\u2019s Social Representations (SR) of coronavirus were formed so that health education strategies and life skills development can be devised.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n This study aimed to analyse the elements that potentially constitute the central core of Portuguese children\u2019s SR about the coronavirus.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n Twenty-two children aged 9\u201312\u202fyears from a district in northern Portugal participated in the study. Data collection included administering a free word evocation test (FWET), which enabled interpretation through prototypical and maximum similarity analyses, and asking children to make drawings from the trigger term \u201ccoronavirus,\u201d which were analysed using content analysis.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n Based on the data, the elements that emerged as possible components of the central core of the children\u2019s SR were \u201cillness,\u201d \u201cdeath,\u201d \u201cmasks\u201d and \u201cvirus.\u201d<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n This study reinforces the importance of school health education combined with the media disseminating scientific and health information. It can also inspire and guide future work focused on children\u2019s health education and life skills development.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1764010","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T05:32:41Z","timestamp":1775626361000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Social representations of Portuguese children about the coronavirus: a contribution to health education and developing life skills"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Carlos Alberto de Oliveira","family":"Magalh\u00e3es J\u00fanior","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State University of Maring\u00e1","place":["Maring\u00e1, PR, Brazil"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leonardo","family":"Deosti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State University of Maring\u00e1","place":["Maring\u00e1, PR, Brazil"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fabiene","family":"Barbosa da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State University of Maring\u00e1","place":["Maring\u00e1, PR, Brazil"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Teresa","family":"Vila\u00e7a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIEC, University of Minho","place":["Braga, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gra\u00e7a Sim\u00f5es","family":"Carvalho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIEC, University of Minho","place":["Braga, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10248","DOI":"10.3390\/su131810248","article-title":"Social bonding and public trust\/distrust in COVID-19 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