Children and COVID-19 Research Library

There has been a plethora of research since the emergence of COVID-19 around the world but several of these studies have not focused on the psychosocial implication of the novel Coronavirus on children in Nigeria. Though the psychosocial impact of the virus is huge, there is paucity of literature addressing the needs of the Nigerian children during the pandemic. The paper explored the psychosocial implications (health, poverty issues, safety needs and learning) of COVID-19 on children in Nigeria. The study recommends the expansion of social assistance for children of families in extreme poverty, and there is a need to adapt standard physical distancing protocols to reflect the characteristics of children in different settings. Also, the Government of Nigeria should prioritize child-centred services. Training parents and caregivers on how to talk to their children about the pandemic, managing their mental health and providing tools to help children’s learning will be crucial.

This study investigated how the sudden shift in the system of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the students, how the external environment impacted their performance, and the structural barriers encountered, which equally had significant impacts on students at junior secondary schools (JSS) in Orlu, Imo State, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey research method. The simple random sampling method was adopted with a sample size of 650 students. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, rated using a four-point Likert scale, and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, and means. 60.10, 58.80, 59.50, 59.00, and 59.50% of the respondents agreed to research questions respectively.

This study examines the plight of Almajiri children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria within the context of religion, child rights, and human rights. Under the cover of being placed under an Islamic scholar for purposes of learning the Koran, the future of the Almajirai children has been mortgaged by the absence of proper care and denial of their rights. As a check to community spreading of the deadly coronavirus, the Almajiri children, notorious for street begging and largely found in Northern Nigeria were billed to be evacuated to their respective home states. Rather than moving these children to their home states in northern Nigeria, the majority of them were taken to the southern part of the country thus leading to intergroup disharmony and suspicion. Worried by the above, the study thus interrogates the nexus between the forceful removal and infringement of the rights of children, the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, questionable parenting, and failed governance. The rancor generated from evacuating these children to other parts of Nigeria raises the question of what has gone wrong with parenting and leadership. Sources for writing this paper have been derived from newspapers, journals, and online sources using the descriptive method of analysis.

Using a quasi-experimental design, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the ‘Eggs Make Kids Sharp & Bright and Strong & Active’ demand-creation campaign in Nigeria. The intervention arm received emotionally compelling radio and television advertisements about eggs, and was exposed to promotional activities and advertising about eggs at points of purchase, schools and health facilities; the comparison arm received no intervention. Children 6–59 months of age (intervention: n = 1359; comparison: n = 1485) were assessed 14 months apart. Intent-to-treat analyses with analysis of covariance method assessed the impact of the intervention on caregivers' behaviour towards eggs, caregivers' willingness to pay for eggs, availability of eggs in households, and consumption of eggs by children 6–59 months of age. Analyses were adjusted for possible confounders and perceived effects of COVID-19 on finances and food consumption.

The study assessed women's childbirth expectations and perceived effects of COVID-19 protocols on delivery in selected healthcare facilities in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey research design. 304 women were purposively recruited from March through December 2020 from selected healthcare facilities in Umuahia. A validated researcher-developed questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistics of frequencies, means, and standard deviations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the mental health of adolescents. This study is aimed at determining the prevalence and psychological correlates of stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic among high school adolescents in Nigeria. This is a cross-sectional descriptive online study involving 1008 Nigerian adolescents. Respondents completed study-specific sociodemographic questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale– 21, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale-10, Paediatric Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction, Insomnia Severity Index-7, Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, Drug Abuse Screening Test -10.

During the lockdown, there was a disruption in the provision of and access to family planning (FP) services in developing countries due to the covid 19 pandemic mostly because of restrictions on transportation, border closures, and closure of some healthcare institutions.This study examined the impact of covid-19 on the need for and access to family planning among Nigerian women and access to family planning among Nigerian women.

Emerging evidence from high income countries showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had negative effects on population and reproductive health behaviour. This study provides a sub-Saharan Africa perspective by documenting the social consequences of COVID-19 and its relationship to fertility preference stability and modern contraceptive use in Nigeria. It analysed panel data collected by Performance Monitoring for Action in Nigeria. Baseline and Follow-up surveys were conducted before the COVID-19 outbreak (November 2019-February 2020) and during the lockdown respectively (May-July 2020). Analysis was restricted to married non-pregnant women during follow-up (n = 774). Descriptive statistics and generalized linear models were employed to explore the relationship between selected social consequences of COVID-19 and fertility preferences stability (between baseline and follow-up) as well as modern contraceptives use.

A good number of parents of children with Down syndrome are prone to depressive disorders. The depressive feelings are attributed to negative perceptions of the situation, self, and the future. This study explored the impact of the family health model of rational-emotive behavior therapy on depressive symptoms in parents of children with intellectual disability of Down syndrome in the COVID-19 pandemic era. This is a randomized pretest–posttest control group design that recruited 88 parents of children with intellectual disability of Down syndrome. The depressive symptoms in parents at Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3 using the Beck depressive inventory and Hamilton depression rating scale was measured. A family health model rational emotive behaviour therapy intervention in treating the depressive symptoms affecting the parents was adopted.

Health is a resource for daily existence and wellbeing. Mental, social, emotional, spiritual, psychological and physical health constitute an overall essence of that well-being. The COVID-19 epidemic has had a profoundly negative impact on women, children, and society as a whole by causing unfathomable loss, grief, pain, and solitude. The pandemic has pushed many families into poverty and exacerbated conditions of inequality with women and children exposed to violence and other deprivation which deeply impacted on their mental health. The study employed the use of content analysis of secondary sources of data, and the social stress, social model and general strain theories constituting the theoretical framework for examining the subject under investigation.

With a burgeoning out‐of‐school population and illiteracy rate, the situation of protracted conflict and crises fuelled by the Boko‐Haram insurgency further exacerbates educational inequality for children in northern Nigeria. The Covid‐19 pandemic further deepened the “educational poverty” experienced there. This article focuses on data generated around ACE radio school, an initiative to mitigate the impact of Covid‐19‐related school closures in northern Nigeria. The initiative targeted young learners using radio as a medium to support their continued learning remotely in numeracy, literacy, sciences, and civics education. Daily learning activities were broadcasted in the local Hausa language, supported through “listening groups” that engaged local learning facilitators in the communities. Despite the known existing barriers that have been identified to hinder access to quality education in the region, including poverty, religion, socio‐cultural factors, and protracted conflict situations, our interviews revealed that parents were committed to supporting their children’s attendance at listening groups, due to the use of their mother tongue as a mode of instruction.

Technological advancement has ushered Computer studies which is also regarded as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) instruction into educational curriculum. The aim of ICT studies in secondary school system is to equip every student with the prerequisite skills and competence to function effectively in the contemporary society that is characterized by emerging technologies. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to assess students’ satisfaction with ICT instruction in secondary schools in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State, Nigeria. Three research hypotheses were formulated to give direction to the study. The study sample was 5245 students drawn from the population of Senior Secondary (SS) 2 and Senior Secondary (SS) 3 classes across public and private schools in 2019/2020 academic session. A survey research design was adopted for the study. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire entitled "Secondary School Students' Satisfaction with Computer Studies Questionnaire (SSSSCSQ)". The data collected were analyzed using population t-test and independent t-test.

COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the utilization of maternal and newborn child health services in Nigeria but the extent, directions, contextual factors at all the levels of healthcare service delivery in Nigeria is yet to be fully explored. The objective of the study was to explore the barriers and facilitators of access to MNCH services during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. A qualitative study was conducted among different stakeholder groups in 18 public health facilities in Nigeria between May and July,2020. In-depth interviews were conducted among 54 study participants (service users, service providers and policymakers) selected from across the three tiers of public health service delivery system in Nigeria (primary health centers, secondary health centers and tertiary health centers). Coding of the qualitative data and identification of themes from the transcripts were carried out and thematic approach was used for data analyses.