Logo UNICEF Innocenti
Office of Research-Innocenti
menu icon

Children and COVID-19 Research Library

UNICEF Innocenti's curated library of COVID-19 + Children research

RESULTS:   300     SORT BY:

ADVANCED SEARCH:

Select one or more filter options and click search below.

PUBLICATION DATE:
UNICEF Innocenti Publication
UNICEF Publication
Open Access
JOURNAL ACCESS FOR UNICEF STAFF CONTACT US
211 - 225 of 300
Pet keeping in the time of COVID-19: the canine and feline companions of young children

AUTHOR(S)
Mary Renck Jalongo

Published: August 2021   Journal: Early Childhood Education Journal
Amid COVID-19, children’s interactions with pet animals in the household were at times strengthened, strained, or established anew. Extensive periods of confnement made the home environment not only the site for most family activities but also the hub for children’s school and many adults’ work. Research on the role of pets during the pandemic has consisted primarily of online surveys with the general fnding that sweeping changes to daily living had major consequences for the dynamics between pets and people. This article addresses issues related to young children and pet keeping within the context of the recent world health crisis and the resultant lockdowns. First, it describes how the defnition of a pet has changed. It then examines children’s attachments to dogs and cats, the two species most frequently chosen as pets for young children worldwide. Next, it highlights the potential risks and rewards of children cohabitating with cats and dogs at a time when many families were sequestered in homes. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations and contributions of research on pet keeping during COVID-19 and suggests appropriate next steps that take into consideration the welfare of young children and their companion animals.
COVID-19 unmasked global collaboration protocol: longitudinal cohort study examining mental health of young children and caregivers during the pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Alexandra C. De Young; Mira Vasileva; Joanna Boruszak-Kiziukiewicz (et al.)

Published: August 2021   Journal: European Journal of Psychotraumatology

Early empirical data shows that school-aged children, adolescents and adults are experiencing elevated levels of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, there is very little research on mental health outcomes for young children. This study aims to describe the formation of a global collaboration entitled, ‘COVID-19 Unmasked’. The collaborating researchers aim to (1) describe and compare the COVID-19 related experiences within and across countries; (2) examine mental health outcomes for young children (1 to 5 years) and caregivers over a 12-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic; (3) explore the trajectories/time course of psychological outcomes of the children and parents over this period and (4) identify the risk and protective factors for different mental health trajectories. Data will be combined from all participating countries into one large open access cross-cultural dataset to facilitate further international collaborations and joint publications.

Mobile technology usage in early childhood: pre-COVID-19 and the national lockdown period in North Cyprus

AUTHOR(S)
Nihan Koran; Bengü Berkmen; Ahmet Adalıer

Published: August 2021   Journal: Education and Information Technologies
COVID-19 has affected North Cyprus since the beginning of March 2020. On March 10th 2020, the council of ministers in North Cyprus announced a lockdown and listed some restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus; schools and entertainment centres were closed, and children had to spend most of their day at home. This study aims to examine the use of mobile technology before and during the COVID-19 lockdown period by children aged three to six, based on parents' opinions. This is a descriptive study with a sample of 319 parents. Data and demographic information were collected with a questionnaire and analysed with SPSS (24.0). Comparing the duration of mobile technology device usage before the pandemic and during the lockdown period, an increase is evident, as expected. Of note, when compared to the pre-pandemic period, it is found that there is a decrease in the rate of mobile technology device usage for video viewing during the lockdown period. The findings also suggest that children mostly first experienced mobile technology devices in some way before 36 months of age. This study has determined that most children do not have their own mobile technology device.
Life interrupted: family routines buffer stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Carolyn R. Bates; Laura M. Nicholson; Elizabeth M. Rea (et al.)

Published: August 2021   Journal: Journal of Child and Family Studies
Adoption of certain behavioral and social routines that organize and structure the home environment may help families navigate the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current cross-sectional study aimed to assess family routines prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine associations with individual and family well-being. Using a national sample, 300 caregivers of children ages 6-18 were surveyed using Amazon Mechanical Turk platform during the first three months of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Caregivers reported on family demographics, COVID-19-related stress, engagement in family routines (prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic), stress mindset, self-efficacy, and family resiliency. Overall, families reported engaging in fewer routines during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to prior to the pandemic. COVID-19-related stress was highest in low-income families, families of healthcare workers, and among caregivers who had experienced the COVID-19 virus. Moreover, COVID-19-related stress was negatively related to self-efficacy, positively related to an enhancing stress mindset, and negatively related to family resilience. Engagement in family routines buffered relations between COVID-19-related stress and family resilience, such that COVID-19-related stress was not associated with lower family resilience among families that engaged in high levels of family routines.
COVID-19 behavioural drivers and patterns: a longitudinal assessment from the South Asia region

AUTHOR(S)
JohnBaptist Bwanika; Tom Pellens; Esther Kaggwa

Institution: *UNICEF
Published: July 2021
In response to the need for social and behavioural data to inform risk communication and community engagement during COVID-19, the community rapid assessment (CRA) initiative was implemented by UNICEF in four countries in South Asia (Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan). Through a time-series approach, the CRAs aim to provide rapid and consistent data on citizen perceptions and behaviours; underlying drivers and barriers; access to information and trust; vaccine acceptance; coping strategies; and evolving needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data across countries were synthesized and analysed to measure associations between outcomes of interest (e.g. behavioural practices) and a set of respondent characteristics. Initial analysis used data from Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan covering the period August to December 2020 (presented in an interim report with early findings). This was next expanded to also cover the India CRA and data up to April 2021.
Be my safe haven: parent–child relationships and emotional health during COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
Jordan Bate; Phoebe T. Pham; Jessica L. Borelli

Published: July 2021   Journal: Journal of Pediatric Psychology
Since March 2020, millions of children have been confined to their homes and restricted from in-person activities, radically changing the dynamics of parent–child relationships. This study examines the association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impact and the mental health of parents and school-aged children; specifically, whether qualities of the parent–child relationship moderated the relationship between parents’ emotional health (EH) and children’s emotional and behavioral health (EBH).
Analysis of psychosocial adjustment in the family during confinement: problems and habits of children and youth and parental stress and resilience

AUTHOR(S)
Magdalena P. Andrés-Romero; Juan M. Flujas-Contreras; Mercedes Fernández-Torres (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Frontiers in Psychology
The COVID-19 health crisis has led to a dramatic change in dynamics and habits of families, which may be a factor involved in the development and maintenance of problems and difficulties in children. The present study is a cross-sectional study that aims to describe and analyze the relationship between the difficulties in psychological adjustment and the change of habits of the infant-juvenile population as perceived by their parents and their stress and resilience during the total confinement of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, as well as analyzing the course of the changes and the relationships between weeks 3 to 6, that is, the score of different participants in each week of the confinement. The sample is comprised of 883 parents of children and adolescents between 3 and 18 years of age.
Children’s eating habits, physical activity, sleep, and media usage before and during COVID-19 pandemic in Poland

AUTHOR(S)
Edyta Łuszczki; Anna Bartosiewicz; Iwona Pezdan (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Nutrients
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused huge changes in people’s lifestyle, health, and social relationships. This situation has had an impact on children and adolescents, affecting their health, intellectual, physical, and emotional development. The survey aimed to compare eating behaviors, level of physical activity (PA), hours of sleep, and screen time among Polish children and adolescents aged 6–15 years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We obtained self-reported data from 1016 participants at two measurement points before and during the COVID-19 lockdown in Poland to examine the influence of the lockdown and the distance learning on PA, dietary habits, sleep, and media usage of children and adolescents aged 6–15 years.
Why some parents made firearms more accessible during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a national study

AUTHOR(S)
Rebeccah L. Sokol; Lea Marineau; Marc A. Zimmerman (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Journal of Behavioral Medicine
The objective of this study was to assess parents’ frearm storage behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and characterize reasons why some parents made their frearms more accessible during this time. In June-July 2020, the study team conducted the FACTS National Survey—a cross-sectional, web-based, survey of 2,924 parents and their teens (ages14–18) regarding frearm-related practices.
Challenges and opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic: treating patients for substance use disorders during the perinatal period

AUTHOR(S)
Hendrée E. Jones; Essence Hairston; Ashley C. Lensch (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Preventive Medicine
The United States of America faces an opioid use disorder epidemic and growing rates of alcohol and other substance use disorders within the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Pregnant and post-pregnant individuals are also adversely affected by the substance use disoder epidemic in a pandemic. Physical safety measures preventing COVID-19 also trigger initiation, resumption or intensification of alcohol and other substance use among some individuals, including pregnant and post-pregnant people. Collectively, increasing alcohol use and the opioid epidemic interwoven within the COVID-19 pandemic warrant attention among all people, including pregnant and post-pregnant people. Sudden service delivery transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic not only reduced access to opioid use disorder treatment care but also created engagement issues.
COVID-19 babies: auto-videosomnography and parent reports of infant sleep, screen time, and parent well-being in 2019 vs 2020

AUTHOR(S)
Michal Kahn; Natalie Barnett; Assaf Glazer (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Sleep Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted families, yet studies on its effects on infants and their parents have thus far been sparse and based mostly on retrospective parent reporting. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the impact of COVID-19 living conditions on infant and parent sleep, as well as infant screen exposure, parent daytime sleepiness, and parent depression levels, using multi-method assessment.
School bullying before and during COVID-19: results from a population-based randomized design

AUTHOR(S)
Tracy Vaillancourt; Heather Brittain; Amanda Krygsman (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Aggressive Behavior
This reesearch examined the impact of COVID-19 on bullying prevalence rates in a sample of 6578 Canadian students in Grades 4 to 12. To account for school changes associated with the pandemic, students were randomized at the school level into two conditions: (1) the pre-COVID-19 condition, assessing bullying prevalence rates retrospectively before the pandemic, and (2) the current condition, assessing rates during the pandemic.
The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on adolescents with an eating disorder and identifying factors predicting disordered eating behaviour

AUTHOR(S)
Sinem Akgül; Devrim Akdemir; Kevser Nalbant (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Early Intervention in Psychiatry

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on adolescents with eating disorders (ED) and identify factors predicting ED behaviour.This study took place during an age-stratified lockdown for those under 20 years in Turkey. Participants completed a survey developed to evaluate the effects of the lockdown on ED behaviour, well-being and quality of life (QoL) and additionally the eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-Q), and scales for depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. The relationship between the EDE-Q-global score and other variables related to ED was examined. Linear regression analysis was performed to examine the predictive power of these variables on ED behaviour.

Pandemic did not lead to decrease in alcohol and marijuana use by youth

AUTHOR(S)
Gary Enos

Published: July 2021   Journal: Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
Despite seeing a historic decline in youths' perceived availability of alcohol and marijuana during last year's peak of COVID-19 restrictions, use of these substances did not show a corresponding drop, newly released data indicates. The study's lead author told ADAW that the findings were so surprising to him that he had to set them aside for a time to try to process what he was seeing.
Smartphone use and addiction during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: cohort study on 184 Italian children and adolescents

AUTHOR(S)
Gregorio Serra; Lucia Lo Scalzo; Mario Giuffrè (et al.)

Published: July 2021   Journal: Italian Journal of Pediatrics
The lives of many children and adolescents are today increasingly influenced by new technological devices, including smartphones. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic occurred in a time of outstanding scientific progress and global digitalization. Young people had relevant adverse psychological and behavioral effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly related to infection control measures, which led them to spend more time at home and with major use of technological tools. The goal this study proposes is to evaluate health and social outcomes of smartphone overuse among Italian children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing patterns and aims of utilization, as well as the eventual presence and degree of addiction.
211 - 225 of 300

UNICEF Innocenti's Children and COVID-19 Library is a database collecting research from around the world on COVID-19 and its impacts on children and adolescents.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DATABASE

Subscribe to updates on new research about COVID-19 & children

SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Share:

facebook twitter linkedin google+ reddit print email
Article Article

Check our quarterly thematic digests on children and COVID-19

Each quarterly thematic digest features the latest evidence drawn from the Children and COVID-19 Research Library on a particular topic of interest.
Campaign Campaign

COVID-19 & Children: Rapid Research Response

UNICEF Innocenti is mobilizing a rapid research response in line with UNICEF’s global response to the COVID-19 crisis. The initiatives we’ve begun will provide the broad range of evidence needed to inform our work to scale up rapid assessment, develop urgent mitigating strategies in programming and advocacy, and preparation of interventions to respond to the medium and longer-term consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The research projects cover a rapid review of evidence, education analysis, and social and economic policies.