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:   51     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
1 - 15 of 51
Social connection when physically isolated: family experiences in using video calls

AUTHOR(S)
Ilze Kacane; Maria Jose Hernández-Serrano

Published: January 2023   Journal: Open Cultural Studies
Digital (video) calls have become a significant tool during the challenging times marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The article focuses on the perceived functionality of video calls for maintaining social contacts and overcoming loneliness in celebrating family festivities limited by physical distance policies. The qualitative study conducted at the end of 2021 in Latvia and Spain examines families’ cultural socialisation via digital tools and, based on data obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews, assesses the users’ digital experiences in celebrating Christmas and the New Year from retrospective and prospective standpoints.
Children and adolescents' positive youth development qualities and internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study in China

AUTHOR(S)
Zhuo Wang; Binxue Hong; Yanyan Zhang (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Frontiers in Psychiatry

Recent studies have shown that the qualities of children and adolescents’ positive youth development (PYD) enable them to cope with developmental challenges in an adaptive manner and maintain healthy functioning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a lack of reporting on changes in children and adolescents’ PYD qualities and Internet addiction and their relationship. This study investigated the association between PYD qualities and Internet addiction among the children and adolescents who have experienced the COVID-19 lockdown. A school-based cohort survey was launched in December 2019 (Wave 1, before COVID-19 lockdown) and followed up in June 2020 (Wave 2, after COVID-19 lockdown). The Chinese PYD scale (80 items, scoring 80–480) and Young’s Internet addiction test (20 items, scoring 20–100) were used to evaluate the children and adolescents’ PYD qualities and the degree of their Internet addiction, respectively. Cross-sectional regressions, longitudinal regressions, and cross-lagged panel model were used to examine the association between PYD qualities and Internet addiction.

"Mature enough to handle it?": gendered parental interventions in and adolescents' reactions to technology use during the pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Hillary Steinberg; Stefanie Mollborn; Jennifer Pace

Published: January 2023   Journal: Journal of Family Issues
This study investigated how teenagers reacted to parental regulation of technology. Using longitudinal dyadic interviews with 24 teenagers and their 21 parents in two predominantly white middle-class communities, it explored how teenagers used technology during the COVID-19 pandemic and the differential consequences parental interventions had for teens’ well-being and confidence with technology. Parents’ narratives and actions about technology use were deeply gendered. Boys felt confident about their self-regulation of technology, and parents did not substantially limit boys’ technology use during the pandemic. Girls were less confident about their ability to self-regulate and either worked with their mothers to manage technology, distrusted parents who monitored them, or lacked access to virtual hangout spaces such as video games and social media.
Digital–environmental habitus of families in England in times of pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Maria Laura Ruiu; Gabriele Ruiu; Massimo Ragnedda

Published: January 2023   Journal: New Media & Society
This article uses adopts a revised version of the concept of techno-environmental habitus to investigate and make sense of the differentiation among digital technology users’ attitudes towards the environment in England. Digital–environmental habitus refers to the combination of structural determinants (existing background) and the metabolised increased use of digital technologies in people’s everyday life that also interacts with individual environmental attitudes.
Evaluating the effectiveness of the Supportive Parenting App on parental outcomes: randomized controlled trial

AUTHOR(S)
Shefaly Shorey; Evelyn Law; Thilagamangai (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Adjusting to new or additional parenting responsibilities increases stress and affects parental well-being. Existing research has highlighted both parents’ desire to receive more support. It has also been found that receiving sufficient social support enhances parenting outcomes. With the increasing popularity of mobile health apps, a Supportive Parenting App (SPA) intervention was developed to fulfill the support needs of parents during the perinatal period.
 This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the SPA on parental outcomes during the perinatal period.

Screen-viewing behaviours of children before and after the 2020-21 COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK: a mixed methods study

AUTHOR(S)
Ruth Salway; Robert Walker; Kate Sansum (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: BMC Public Health

Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increased screen-viewing among children, especially during strict periods of lockdown. However, the extent to which screen-viewing patterns in UK school children have changed post lockdowns is unclear. The aim of this paper is to examine how screen-viewing changed in 10–11-year-old children over the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic, how this compares to before the pandemic, and the influences on screen-viewing behaviour. This is a mixed methods study with 10–11-year-olds from 50 schools in the Greater Bristol area, UK. Cross-sectional questionnaire data on minutes of weekday and weekend television (TV) viewing and total leisure screen-viewing were collected pre-COVID-19 in 2017–18 (N = 1,296) and again post-lockdowns in 2021 (N = 393). Data were modelled using Poisson mixed models, adjusted for age, gender, household education and seasonality, with interactions by gender and household education. Qualitative data were drawn from six focus groups (47 children) and 21 one-to-one parent interviews that explored screen-viewing behaviour during the pandemic and analysed using the framework method.

Investigating how the interaction between individual and circumstantial determinants influence the emergence of digital poverty: a post-pandemic survey among families with children in England

AUTHOR(S)
Maria Laura Ruiu; Massimo Ragnedda; Felice Addeo (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Information, Communication & Society
This paper explores Digital Poverty (DP) in England by adopting the DP Alliance’s theoretical framework that includes both Individual Determinants (individual capability and motivation) and Circumstantial Determinants (conditions of action). Such a framework is interpreted as an expression of Strong Structuration Theory (SST), by situating the connection between social structure and human agency in an intertwined relationship. This study focuses on new potential vulnerabilities that are connected to DP in England by drawing on a survey conducted on a randomised stratified sample (n = 1988) of parents aged between 20–55 with children at school.
The longitudinal association between internet addiction and depressive and anxiety symptoms among Chinese adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Li Zhao; Xiang Li; Qin Yang (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Frontiers in Public Health

The COVID-19 pandemic and related prevention policies, such as home quarantine or online courses, could increase the risks of experiencing internet addiction and mental health problems among Chinese adolescents. There is a lack of longitudinal evidence to show the association between internet addiction symptoms and psychological consequences (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms). This study aimed to explore the association between internet addiction and depressive and anxiety symptoms before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. An effective sample of 7,958 Chinese adolescents was recruited for this two-wave longitudinal survey conducted over a six-month interval. All participants completed two-wave surveys before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A longitudinal cross-lagged path model was used to analyze the associations between internet addiction and depressive and anxiety symptoms after controlling for four covariates (i.e., age, sex, minority, and COVID-19 influence).

Screen media exposure and behavioral adjustment in early childhood during and after COVID-19 home lockdown periods

AUTHOR(S)
Noa Gueron-Sela; Ido Shaleva; Avigail Gordon-Hacker (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Computers in Human Behavior
There is ample evidence that young children's screen media use has sharply increased since the outbreak of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, the long-term impact of these changes on children's adjustment is currently unclear. The goals of the current study were to assess longitudinal trajectories of young children's screen media exposure through a series of national COVID-19 home lockdowns and to examine the predictive associations between different aspects of media exposure and post-lockdown behavioral adjustment. Data were collected at four timepoints during and after home lockdown periods in Israel. Longitudinal data measuring various aspects of media use, behavioral conduct and emotional problems were gathered from a sample of 313 Israeli children (54% females) between the ages two to five years (Mage at T1 = 3.6), by surveying their mothers at 5 points in time.
The impact of media on children during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review

AUTHOR(S)
M. Mesce; A. Ragona; S. Cimino (et al.)

Published: December 2022   Journal: Heliyon
Although mobile technologies are a fundamental part of daily life, several studies have shown increased use of electronic devices, TV, and gaming during childhood in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus affected almost every country, causing uncertainty about the future, social isolation, and distress. This narrative review has searched the scientific literature in the field focusing on children. A non-systematic literature review was conducted in May 2022. Various databases were employed to conduct the document research for this paper, such as “Google Scholar”, “PubMed”, “Web of Science”. Keywords for the search included “screen time”, “media”, “digital use”, “social media”, “COVID-19”, “pandemic”, “lockdown”, “children”, “effect of media on children during COVID”. It was found that both children and adolescents seem to have used technologies to confront struggles provoked by COVID-19, such as the onset or exacerbation of symptoms of anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. However, moreover, other studies have suggested that increased media use can have positive effects on children depending on usage and monitoring by the parents.
"Digital natives in online classes. Internet use among Warsaw adolescents prior to, and during, the COVID-19 pandemic. Mokotów Study 2016-2020"

AUTHOR(S)
Jakub Greń; Krzysztof Ostaszewski; Krzysztof Jan Bobrowski (et al.)

Published: December 2022   Journal: Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
The internet has become a part of adolescents’ lives with all the positive and negative consequences. The major risks include so-called problematic internet use (PIU). The latest Mokotów Study provided an opportunity to examine adolescents’ internet use during the pandemic. This is one of the few studies in this area conducted on adolescents from Poland. The study participants’ group consisted of first-year high school students from Warsaw (N = 769, 14-16 years of age, 47.6% female). An online questionnaire was used for the study. The IADQ developed by Kimberly Young was used to measure internet-use patterns. The results were compared to the previous round of the Mokotów Study from 2016.
Cite this research | Open access | Vol.: 35 | Issue: 2 | No. of pages: 141-170 | Language: English | Topics: Education | Tags: child education, COVID-19 response, internet, lockdown, new media, remote learning, school attendance, social distance | Countries: Poland
Mobile game addiction and social interaction anxiety of Malaysian youth

AUTHOR(S)
Mohamad Noorman Masrek; Waqas Ahmed; Abdurrahman Jalil (et al.)

Published: December 2022   Journal: Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal

With individuals of all ages confined to their homes for extended periods of time, the pandemic laid the groundwork for an upsurge in online mobile gaming addiction and risky internet usage. According to research, those who are hooked to online gaming are more likely to experience social interaction anxiety. This research is an additional attempt to confirm prior findings in the context of Malaysian youth. The data was acquired via an online questionnaire as part of the survey research procedure. The respondents were reached through convenient sampling, and the 377 replies provided more evidence on the association between gaming addiction and social interaction anxiety.

The cumulative effect of multilevel factors on myopia prevalence, incidence, and progression among children and adolescents in China during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Yanhui Dong; Catherine Jan; Li Chen (et al.)

Published: December 2022   Journal: Translational Vision Science & Technology

This paper aimed to estimate the effects of school closures and associated lifestyle changes on myopia in Chinese children and adolescents during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Two cross-sectional surveys recruited 14,296 Chinese students aged 7 to 18 years in November 2019 and June 2020 from which an open cohort study (nested queue design) was derived and used to assess myopia prevalence, incidence, and progression rates (defined as students with progression in myopia severity at the second survey wave among those with myopia at baseline). The severity of myopia was determined by measurements of visual acuity (<5.0) and noncycloplegic refraction (spherical equivalent <−0.50 diopters). Twenty-three myopia-influencing factors were divided into three categories: eye-use habits, lifestyle, and family and subjective factors. Responses to each of these 23 factors were labeled as either positive or negative options and then combined to generate a comprehensive score.

Cite this research | Open access | Vol.: 11 | Issue: 9 | No. of pages: 14 | Language: English | Topics: Health | Tags: adolescent health, child health, COVID-19 response, health services, lockdown, new media, social distance | Countries: China
Cyberbullying in COVID-19 pandemic decreases? Research of internet habits of Croatian adolescents

AUTHOR(S)
Lucija Vejmelka; Roberta Matkovic; Miroslav Rajter (et al.)

Published: December 2022   Journal: Information
: Online contacts and other activities on the Internet came into focus given the increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online environment is a setting for problematic Internet use, including cyberbullying, and research so far shows that inclusion in cyberbullying depends on the amount of screen time. Increases in screen time during the pandemic could affect the growth of the prevalence rates of children’s involvement in cyberbullying. The aim of this paper is to compare the Internet habits, cyberbullying and parental role in children’s online activities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the use of the Internet increased due to online classes and implemented measures to prevent the spread of the infection. The Institute of Public Health of Split-Dalmatia County conducted a quantitative online survey of Internet habits and problematic Internet use in two waves in 2017 and 2020 with adolescents from 12–18 (N2017 = 536; N2020 = 284). Research included adherence to ethical standards of research with children. An online activity questionnaire for children, a questionnaire of parental behaviors and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire—ECIPQ were used.
Family predictors of physical activity change during the COVID-19 lockdown in preschool children in Germany

AUTHOR(S)
Franziska Beck; Stefen C. E. Schmidt; Alexander Woll (et al.)

Published: December 2022   Journal: Journal of Behavioral Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with crucial changes in children’s daily life including their physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST). Among preschool children, the family represents an important factor for sufficient PA levels by being the gatekeeper for PA. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the family environment, specifically SES, parental support, and having siblings on COVID-19-related changes of PA and ST behavior in 317 (170 boys, 147 girls) German preschool children using longitudinal data.
1 - 15 of 51

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.