Children and COVID-19 Research Library

This manuscript reports on a youth-driven health assessment engaging youth of color in identifying community health priorities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Photovoice, a participatory visual ethnographic health assessment strategy, was used to explore the question: What does health or healthiness mean to you and/or your community? Youth captured images that represented their priorities. The photos were discussed using the SHOWed framework and analyzed thematically. Four themes related to community health were identified. Additionally, youth captured their narrative of COVID-19 as “a revealing force that highlights systemic inequities, driving individuals and communities to both cultivate their resilience and take healthcare into their own hands in response to government and policy level failures.

To what extent are individual and structural social determinants of health (SDoH) and vaccinations associated with child mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic? In this cohort study of 8493 US children, pandemic-related food insecurity, parental unemployment, disrupted mental health treatment, living in neighborhoods with higher shares of adults working full-time, and living in states lagging in vaccination rates were associated with increased trajectories of perceived stress, sadness, and COVID-19–related worry. Associations between SDoH and these mental health outcomes were more common among Asian, Black, and Hispanic children more than White children.

Immigrant families are some of the most vulnerable to the effects of this continuing crisis. This study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant families in an upper Midwest state. 1t interviewed 19 human and social service providers from agencies serving Somali, Latinx, and Karen (refugees from Burma/Myanmar) immigrant families between June and August 2020. Results analyzed for this paper focused on responses to questions asked about COVID-19-related financial and familial stress, and coping resources and constraints that providers were observing with their immigrant clients.

This study intends to reveal the underlying structural inequity in vulnerability to infection of the novel coronavirus disease pandemic among children and youth. Using multi-source data from New York Times novel coronavirus disease tracking project and County Health Rankings & Roadmap Program, this study shows that children and youth in socioeconomically disadvantaged status are faced with disproportionate risk of infection in this pandemic. On the county level, socioeconomic disadvantages (i.e., single parent family, low birthweight, severe housing problems) contribute to the confirmed cases and death cases of the novel coronavirus disease. Policymakers should pay more attention to this vulnerable group to implement more targeted and effective epidemic prevention and control.

Social factors have a profound impact on child health – they are the “causes of the causes”, creating social gradients and inequalities in almost all morbidities. The social determinants of health are complex and intertwined, and in the UK child health inequalities are entrenched and intractable. This study describes how longitudinal research on children's health and life course trajectories gives us insights into the ways in which the social determinants interact to affect children, and how these insights can shape policy and practice to improve child health. It also touches on three major contemporary issues in child health: adverse childhood experiences, the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. It explores how paediatricians can engage with the social determinants of child health and be agents for change, and share examples of innovative practice.

There is concern about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial functioning among school-age children, who have faced unusual stressors during this time. This study's goal is to assess mental health symptoms and social risks during COVID-19, compared to before the pandemic, for urban, racial and ethnic minority school-age children, and investigate the relationship between mental health and social risks. It is a cohort study from September 2019 until January 2021 of children age 5–11 years old recruited from an urban safety net hospital-based pediatric primary care practice.

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age and people’s access to power, money and resources. The social determinants are the major drivers of health inequities – unfair, avoidable and remediable differences in health between social groups. This evidence brief examines the influence of the social determinants of health on the current COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the inequities of impact. The findings are drawn from a rapid systematic review of global evidence.

Measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic led to significant lifestyle changes for children and adolescents mainly related to the closure of schools and recreational activities, reduced social interaction, and increased family concerns. A cross-sectional online survey of 78 questions investigating social determinants of health, mood changes, symptoms of anxiety, increase in sleep disorders and unusual repetitive movements was offered to parents living in Italy with children ≤18 years; including families of children with disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, chronic diseases, and specific learning disabilities. The survey was conducted on the Qualtrics platform 6 months after the beginning of the pandemic and distributed in hospitals and paediatricians’ waiting rooms as well as through social networks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted communities of color and highlighted longstanding racial health inequities. Communities of color also report higher rates of medical mistrust driven by histories of medical mistreatment and continued experiences of discrimination and systemic racism. Medical mistrust may exacerbate COVID-19 disparities. This study utilizes the Behavior Model for Vulnerable Populations to investigate predictors of medical mistrust during the COVID-19 pandemic among urban youth of color. Minority youth (N = 105) were recruited from community organizations in Kansas City, Missouri to complete an online survey between May and June 2020. Multiple linear regressions were performed to estimate the effect of personal characteristics, family and community resources, and COVID-19 need-based factors on medical mistrust.

To investigate whether social determinants of health (SDOH) are predictive of adherence to public health preventive measures and to describe changes in adherence over time among parents and children. A longitudinal study was conducted in children aged 0–10 years and their parents through the TARGet Kids! COVID-19 Study in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada (April–July 2020). This study included 335 parents (2108 observations) and 416 children (2632 observations).

The COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in a context of notable inequalities in the distribution of the social determinants of health. It is possible that the housing conditions in which children and their families experienced the confinement, and the adoption of healthy behaviors, may have followed unequal patterns. The aim was to describe social inequalities in housing conditions and in health-related behaviors among children during the lockdown in Spain. This cross-sectional study was based on data from an online survey collecting information on the child population (3–12 years) living in Spain (n = 10,765).