Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a profound impact on the health and development of children worldwide. There is limited evidence on the impact of COVID-19 and its related school closures and disease-containment measures on the psychosocial wellbeing of children; little research has been done on the characteristics of vulnerable groups and factors that promote resilience. This research conducted a large-scale cross-sectional population study of Hong Kong families with children aged 2–12 years.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the preventive measures has led to increased use of the Internet in the daily lives of children. Therefore, Internet addiction has become an increasingly important public health issue worldwide. More than 90% of Hong Kong’s citizens use the Internet, and 70% of children in the age group of 6–17 years have daily access to it. However, internet addiction could pose serious social and health issues. The current study examined the relationship between worry and Internet addiction among children in Hong Kong and investigated the moderating effect of the permissive parenting style on such a relationship. 

As of 23 April 2020, there have been 104 confirmed paediatric cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hong Kong. Fortunately, all cases were mild or asymptomatic with no fatalities. The proportion of patients with COVID-19 who are aged <19 years is 14.1% in Hong Kong, which is higher than other countries . This may be attributable to high numbers of overseas students returning to Hong Kong; even those who are asymptomatic are tested as part of the current border controls. Mortality for patients aged <19 years is very low, with less than 10 reported cases, mostly teenagers.

This report presents the results of a survey that aims to (1) determine the most common difficulties Hong Kong children face with remote learning during school suspension and how students think they could overcome them; (2) get children’s perspectives on their well-being during the school suspension and the things that affect it most; (3) get children’s perspectives on what support they need for and their feelings about their return to school.