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Children and COVID-19 Research Library

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

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76 - 90 of 194
The neglected ones: time at home during COVID-19 and child maltreatment

AUTHOR(S)
Lindsey Rose Bullinger; Kerri M. Raissian; Megan Feely (et al.)

Published: November 2021   Journal: Children and Youth Services Review
The early months of the COVID-19 pandemic led to extreme social isolation, precarious employment and job loss, working from home while tending to children, and limited access to public services. The confluence of these factors likely affects child health and well-being. We combine early release child maltreatment reports in Indiana with unique and newly available mobile phone movement data to better understand the relationship between staying at home intensively during the COVID-19 pandemic and child maltreatment.
Child protection plans in the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: Maintained, adjusted, or suspended?

AUTHOR(S)
Birgit Jentsch; Christine Gerber

Published: November 2021   Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect

COVID-19 infection prevention measures have enhanced risks of abuse and neglect for children and youth. Simultaneously, they have affected the practice of child protection, especially impacting the social infrastructure on which child protection work tends to rely, as well as the ability of practitioners to meet with family members face-to-face and in their homes. This article focuses on the ways in which infection prevention measures have shaped child protection plans in Germany, i.e. family support and counselling, which is accompanied by monitoring and scrutiny. The article is based on a qualitative study, in which 40 semi-structured interviews were held with first-line management representatives of German Youth Welfare Agencies between July and October 2020.

Family stress during the pandemic worsens the effect of adverse parenting on adolescent sleep quality

AUTHOR(S)
Linhao Zhang; Zehua Cui; Jeri Sasser (et al.)

Published: November 2021   Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect

Adverse parenting is consistently associated with increased sleep problems among adolescents. Shelter-in-Place restrictions and the uncertainty linked to the Covid-19 pandemic have introduced new stressors on parents and families, adding to the risk for youth's sleep problems. Using multidimensional assessments of child maltreatment (CM; threat vs. deprivation), the present study examined whether parent-report and child-report of Covid-19 related stress potentiated the effect of CM on sleep problems among boys and girls. The study focused on a sample of 124 dyads of adolescents (Mage = 12.89, SD = 0.79; 52% female) and their primary caregivers (93% mothers) assessed before and during the pandemic (May to October 2020).

The effect of child neglect and abuse information studies on parents' awareness levels during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Fatma Betül Şenola; Alev Üstündağ

Published: November 2021   Journal: Children and Youth Services Review
The research was conducted in order to increase the knowledge and awareness of parents with children between the ages of 4–6 during the COVID-19 pandemic process, through social media applications and programs. The research was designed as a quasi-experimental study with pre-testing, post-testing, and control groups using a quantitative research method. There are 67 parents in the study group, 32 of which are experimental, and 35 are of a controlled group. Data was obtained using The Personal Information Form, Child Neglect and Abuse Awareness Scale for Parents, and Parental Abuse Scale. The “Child Neglect and Abuse WhatsApp and Online Education Program” was applied to the participants in the experimental group. Each day, three messages were sent to the participants in the experimental group on the subjects of child neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse, respectively. In addition, online training was given on the same subjects and in the same order in four sessions over the Zoom application.
Analysis of the health, economic and environmental impacts of COVID-19: The Bangladesh perspective

AUTHOR(S)
Sneh Gautama; Shamsunnahar Setu; Mohd Golam Quader Khan (et al.)

Published: November 2021   Journal: Geosystems and Geoenvironment
Although COVID-19 has given an opportunity to the earth to restore her ecosystem, its role in bringing changes in every sector including social, economic, agricultural, industrial, education and health is enormous. The study was conducted to assess the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 in Bangladesh by collecting data from different sources. The result depicted that during the first wave of COVID-19, the detection rate was less than 5%, exceeding almost 30% after detecting the deadlier Indian variant where 65% of the death is noticed by the people older than 50 years. Among all the frontline service providers during Covid, the highest rate of death was observed for doctors in Bangladesh. This study also discussed the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and found that women faced more depression and anxiety than men as well as 43% of children had subthreshold mental disturbances. Three-fourths of the adolescents have been distressed with household stress during the pandemic. Women and girls have encountered increased domestic violence whereas early marriages dropped out many rural girls from education. Decreasing remittance from non-residents and shutting down of RMG industry resulted loss of job and have badly affected economic section. Almost 20 million workers lost their jobs in Bangladesh from the informal sector. Moreover, the healthcare workers who have treated the corona virus patients have been socially stigmatized due to the fear of infection. Corona Virus has jeopardized the agriculture sector and 66 % farmers (53% crop and vegetables, 99% fish farmers) got lower price than they used to get in a normal situation.
Predictors of family violence in North Carolina following initial COVID-19 stay-at-home orders

AUTHOR(S)
Laura Machlin; Meredith A. Gruhn; Adam Bryant Miller (et al.)

Published: October 2021   Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect

Although there is evidence that family violence increased in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, few studies have characterized longitudinal trends in family violence across the course of initial stay-at-home orders. The purpose of the present study is to investigate patterns and predictors of family violence, such as child maltreatment and harsh punishment, during the first eight weeks of the pandemic after initial stay-at-home orders in North Carolina. Participants included 120 families with children ages 4–11 (53% non-White, 49% female) and a primary caregiver (98% female) living in rural and suburban areas in North Carolina. Participants were recruited based on high risk of pre-pandemic family violence exposure.

Child internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic among maltreating and non-maltreating families: examining the effects of family resources and the reminiscing and emotion training intervention

AUTHOR(S)
Brigid Behrens; Katherine Edler; Kreila Cote (et al.)

Published: October 2021   Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child functioning have been especially pronounced among low-income families. Protective factors, including sensitive reminiscing and sufficient family resources, may reduce the negative effects of the pandemic on child adjustment. The current study investigated how family resources during the pandemic, race, maltreatment, and pre-pandemic involvement in an emotion socialization intervention (Myears ago = 4.37, SD = 1.36) were associated with child internalizing symptoms during the pandemic. The study utilized longitudinal data following 137 maltreating and low-income nonmaltreating mother–child dyads (Mage = 9.08, SD = 1.88; 54.7% Male).

Adolescents in protracted displacement: exploring risks of age- and gender-based violence among Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and the State of Palestine

AUTHOR(S)
Elizabeth Presler-Marshall; Bassam Abu Hamad; Sally Youssef (et al.)

Published: October 2021

Palestine refugees, of whom there are nearly 6 million, primarily live in the countries surrounding the land that is now recognised by most UN member states as the State of Palestine. Palestine refugees are largely excluded from labour markets, due to blockades and national laws, and subsequently have high rates of poverty. Most depend on services and support delivered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and its governmental and non-governmental partners for survival. Palestinian adolescents, whether they live in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, in Jordan or in Lebanon, face myriad threats to their well-being. These include age- and gender-based violence and exploitation in the home, at school and in the community. With the world’s attention elsewhere, however, most of those threats remain largely invisible. This report draws on data collected by the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) research programme to begin addressing evidence gaps and exploring the protection risks facing Palestinian adolescents.

Providing therapeutic services to women and children who have experienced intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and learnings

AUTHOR(S)
Alison Fogarty; Priscilla Savopoulos; Monique Seymour (et al.)

Published: October 2021   Journal: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105365

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, many therapeutic services for children and their parents who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) were required to rapidly transition to telehealth. The current study aims to explore parents' experiences of participating in a parent-child telehealth intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also aimed at exploring clinicians' experiences of delivering the service, including key strengths and challenges. Participants were five mothers who took part in Berry Street's Restoring Childhood service during the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, Australia, and 14 Restoring Childhood clinicians, delivering the service across metropolitan and regional sites

Home, but left alone: time at home and child abuse and neglect during COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
Lindsey Rose Bullinger; Angela Boy; Megan Feely (et al.)

Published: October 2021   Journal: Journal of Family Issues
This study used high-frequency mobile phone movement data and quick-release administrative data from Georgia to examine how time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic is related to child maltreatment referrals. Findings show that referrals plummeted by 58% relative to previous years, driven by fewer referrals from education personnel. After this initial decline, however, each 15 minutes at home was associated with an increase in referrals of material neglect by 3.5% and supervisory neglect by 1%. Our results describe how children have fared during the initial wave of the pandemic, and the results have long-term implications for child development and well-being.
Child physical abuse and COVID-19: trends from nine pediatric trauma centers

AUTHOR(S)
Katie W. Russell; Shannon N. Acker; Romeo C. Ignacio (et al.)

Published: October 2021   Journal: Journal of Pediatric Surgery

Economic, social, and psychologic stressors are associated with an increased risk for abusive injuries in children. Prolonged physical proximity between adults and children under conditions of severe external stress, such as witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic with “shelter-in-place orders”, may be associated with additional increased risk for child physical abuse. This study hypothesized that child physical abuse rates and associated severity of injury would increase during the early months of the pandemic as compared to the prior benchmark period. A nine-center retrospective review of suspected child physical abuse admissions across the Western Pediatric Surgery Research Consortium was conducted. Cases were identified for the period of April 1-June 30, 2020 (COVID-19) and compared to the identical period in 2019. Patient demographics, injury characteristics, and outcome data were also collected.

Child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic rapid review

AUTHOR(S)
Ashley Rapp; Gloria Fall; Abigail C. Radomsky (et al.)

Published: October 2021   Journal: Pediatric Clinics of North America
It is estimated that each year more than 1 million children worldwide are victims of physical, sexual, or emotional violence. Collectively, this violence has been termed child maltreatment (CM) and defined by the World Health Organization as “the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age.”1 The impacts of CM are multifaceted, having short- and long-term consequences on a child’s attitudes and behaviors, as well as their mental and physical well-being.23456 Increases in CM have been well-documented in association with increased parental stress,7 during and after recessions and epidemics, such as the Ebola and AIDS crises.8910 Continuing to understand the situations that create, perpetuate, and amplify CM are of the utmost importance to then lower the rates of CM and decrease their impact. Thus, the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its subsequent impacts have become an area of interest and concern for linkages to CM.
Epidemiological study of violence against children and its increase during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Stela Maria Tavolieri de Oliveira; Ewerton Alexandre Galdeano; Evelynne Maria Gomes Galvão da Trindade (et al.)

Published: September 2021   Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The aim of this study was to identify the epidemiological profiles of violence against children, victims, and their aggressors, and their correlations between socioeconomic and demographic factors analyzed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a cross-sectional, retrospective observational study based on a review of Individual Notification Forms from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases, including child victims of violence, under 18 years, assisted by a pediatric emergency service in Brazil, from 2016–2020. Data were stratified, then statistical analysis was performed using the two-proportion equality test and the Chi-square test, with p < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval. A total of 609 notifications were analyzed and a prevalence of sexual violence (63.2%) was reported. The prevalent profile of victim was female (76.7%), aged between 2–9 years (38.1%) and 14–18 years (35.6%). The violence occurs in the victim’s home (58.9%). The prevalent profile of perpetrator was male (82.4%), young adolescent (59.2%), living as family (64%), mainly the parents (18.4%).
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Australian domestic and family violence services and their clients

AUTHOR(S)
Kerry Carrington; Christine Morley; Shane Warren (et al.)

Published: September 2021   Journal: Australian Journal Of Social Issues
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports emerged that lockdowns were increasing the prevalence of domestic and family violence (DFV) in Australia and across the world. The lockdowns and restrictions were necessary to contain the pandemic. However, leaders in the domestic family violence sector expressed concerns early during 2020 that these lockdowns would lead to the escalation of domestic and family violence. Calling it a shadow pandemic, the United Nations Secretary-General urged all governments to prioritise the prevention of violence against women in their national response plan for COVID-19. To gain some insight into the Australian context, a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Centre for Justice research team conducted a nationwide survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on DFV services and their clients.
Patterns of sexual violence against adults and children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya: a prospective cross-sectional study

AUTHOR(S)
Sarah Rockowitz; Laura M. Stevens; James C. Rockey (et al.)

Published: September 2021   Journal: BMJ Open

This study examined patterns of sexual violence against adults and children in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform sexual violence prevention, protection, and response efforts. A prospective cross-sectional research design was used with data collected from March to August 2020.

76 - 90 of 194

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.

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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.