Children and COVID-19 Research Library

COVID-19 has affected people across the world. The current study examined anxiety and worries during the first UK national lockdown in March 2020. Parents (n = 402) reported on their own anxiety and worries as well as that of their son/daughter with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and typically developing (TD) child (n = 186) at three time points. Although both groups showed increased anxiety across the three time points, levels of anxiety in the SEND group, but not the TD siblings, were predicted by awareness about COVID-19. In addition, worries differed between the groups showing that COVID-19 impacts the wellbeing of those with SEND differently to that of their TD siblings.

Sleep is essential for optimal learning across the developmental pathways. This study aimed to (1) explore whether school start and end times and screen time influenced sleep disturbances in adolescents during the lockdown in China and (2) investigate if sleep disturbances at night and sleep-related impairment (daytime fatigue) influenced adolescents' academic performance and anxiety levels. Ninety-nine adolescents aged 15–17 years old were recruited from two public schools in Baishan City Jilin Province, China. An online questionnaire was distributed including questions on adolescents' demographics, screen time habits, academic performance, anxiety level, sleep disturbances, and sleep-related impairment.

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.

During public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic, access to adequate healthcare is crucial for providing for the health and wellbeing of families. Pregnant and postpartum people are a particularly vulnerable subgroup to consider when studying healthcare access. Not only are perinatal people likely at higher risk for illness, mortality, and morbidity from COVID-19 infection, they are also at higher risk for negative outcomes due to delayed or inadequate access to routine care. This study surveyed 820 pregnant people in California over two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) a ‘non-surge’ wave (June 2020, n = 433), and (2) during a ‘surge’ in cases (December 2020, n = 387) to describe current access to perinatal healthcare, as well as concerns and decision-making regarding childbirth, over time. It also examined whether existing structural vulnerabilities – including acute financial insecurity and racial/ethnic minoritization – are associated with access, concerns, and decision-making over these two waves.

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) caused psychological stress in Chinese adults population. But we are unaware of whether the pandemic causes psychological stress on children. We used the Children’s Impact of Event Scale questionnaire (CRIES-13) to investigate the degree of Post-traumatic Stress (PTSD) symptoms caused by the pandemic in students selected from schools in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Henan, Yunnan, and Chongqing provinces of China.

Many youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face challenges accessing needed services as they transition to adulthood. The present study describes the development, feasibility and acceptability of a new intervention designed to teach parents of transition-aged youth with ASD about the adult service system and the most effective ways to access services and supports. As part of a randomized-controlled trial, the intervention—named ASSIST—was delivered to 91 participants in three states in the U.S. Results suggested that ASSIST is feasible and acceptable to participants. Though intended to be an in-person group-based program, due to COVID-19 restrictions ASSIST was primarily delivered online.

Adolescents who experience negative life events may be at risk for depression, particularly those with psychosocial vulnerabilities. This study investigates longitudinally the impact of vulnerability/protective factors on the relation between a large-scale negative life event, the COVID-19 pandemic, and depressive symptoms. Adolescents (N = 228, Mage = 14.5 years, 53% female, 73% white) self-reported depressive symptoms 2–4 months before the pandemic (Time 1), and again 2 months following stay-at-home orders (Time 2). At T2, adolescents also completed measures of vulnerability, protective factors, and COVID-19-related distress. Depressive symptoms increased at T2, and COVID-19 distress interacted with resilience and negative cognitive style in predicting increases in T2 depression. Focusing on vulnerability and protective factors in adolescents distressed by large scale negative life events appears crucial.

Since the onset of coronavirus disease 2019, the mental health of individuals has been negatively affected, especially among vulnerable groups. The aim of this study was to explore the association of psychological distress with self-efficacy and other correlates among Ethiopian pregnant women. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 pregnant women from August 1 to 15, 2020. Pandemic-related psychological distress was measured by the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R). Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), generalized self-efficacy scale (GSES), and fear of COVID-19 scale (FCoV-19S) were employed to examine independent variables.

This study evaluated factors affecting psychological ill-effects and resilience of caregivers of children with developmental disabilities during the coronavirus pandemic. Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25-item were administered. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with psychological ill-effects and resilience. DASS-21 depression, anxiety and stress scores were high; these were associated with difficulties with infection control measures, autism diagnosis, and need for early intervention services. For caregivers of children with ASD, our DASS-21 scores were significantly higher than non-pandemic scores locally and in other Asian sites. Resilience scores correlated inversely with DASS-21 scores. Targeted support to selected at-risk caregivers and improving resilience can help their coping.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to the conduct of clinical trials. Strategies for overcoming common challenges to non-COVID-19 trial continuation have been reported, but this literature is limited to pharmacological intervention trials from high-income settings. The purpose of this paper is to expand the literature to include a low- and middle-income country perspective. It describes the challenges posed by COVID-19 for a randomised feasibility trial of a psychological intervention for adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa, and lessons learned when implementing strategies to facilitate trial continuation in this context.

The impact of school-closings on adolescents’ mental health and well-being in the management of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is subject to ongoing public debate. Reliable data to inform a balanced discussion are limited. Drawing on a large ongoing multi-site project in Germany, we assessed differences in self-reported psychopathology in a matched convenience-sample of adolescents assessed pre- (November 26, 2018 to March 13, 2020; n = 324) and post the first lockdown (March 18, 2020 to August 29, 2020; n = 324) early 2020 in Germany.

In the beginning of 2020, Italy was the first European country to face the COVID-19 outbreak. Restrictions imposed during the pandemic, social isolation, and the cancellation of medical appointments likely resulted in stress that may have affected pregnant women adversely. This paper aims to determine the psychometric validity of the Italian version of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) in assessing COVID-19-related stress in pregnant women and to examine correlations between PREPS scales and symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The pandemic has affected children’s behaviors and this fact has an effect on their healthy habits, such as sleep and diet. The aim of the current study was to determinate the prevalence of sleep-related problems and its relationship with eating habits in children from the south of Brazil during the pandemic. Parents/legal guardians of 3-17 years old participants responded to a online survey distributed using the snowball sampling strategy in Brazil. The survey was conducted in April, 2020. Participants were asked for their sleep duration and sleep-related problems, as well as for their eating habits. Logistic regressions were performed to analyze the relationship between sleep-related problems and eating habits.