Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of restrictions that have been imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and contact with a COVID-19 positive individual on children and the practices adopted by parents to help their children cope with these effects. The data for this descriptive study were collected through social media platforms. The study included 464 parents who have children between the ages of 3 and 18, use social media, and are willing to participate in the study. The Parent and Child Descriptive Characteristics Form, Assessment Form for Pandemic Effects, and Form of Parent's Practices for Children during the Pandemic were used to collect the study data.

As the COVID-19 pandemic brings widespread changes in families, the sociology of sleep becomes noticeable. Yet, the socio-contextual determinants of a biopsychosocial phenomenon as sleep are poorly investigated. We examine changes concomitantly occurring in the child's sleep per familial and community stressors. During the pre-COVID-19 outbreak period, in 24 minority children (5.4±1.7 years old, 54.2% girls), sleep was objectively measured 24-hours for two consecutive weeks, and this was repeated three times over the study period of three months. The caregiver filled out questionnaires surveying sociodemographic, community and family aspects.

The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to disrupt the lives of families and may have implications for children with existing sleep problems. As such, this study aimed to: (1) characterize sleep changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in children who had previously been identified as having sleep problems, (2) identify factors contributing to sleep changes due to COVID-19 safety measures, and (3) understand parents’ and children’s needs to support sleep during the pandemic. Eighty-five Canadian parents with children aged 4–14 years participated in this explanatory sequential, mixed-methods study using an online survey of children’s and parents’ sleep, with a subset of 16 parents, selected based on changes in their children’s sleep, participating in semi-structured interviews. Families had previously participated in the Better Nights, Better Days (BNBD) randomized controlled trial.