Children and COVID-19 Research Library

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.

Inspired by The Little Jab Book, this playbook uncovers underlying reasons for vaccine hesitancy in Nepal and includes localized, behavioral science-informed solutions to increase uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. The Busara Center for Behavioral Economics, Common Thread, Save the Children Nepal, and Save the Children’s Center for Utilizing Behavioral Insights for Children (CUBIC) collaborated to conduct quantitative and qualitative research in Province 2 to uncover barriers and enablers to vaccination, and then co-created potential solutions with local and national stakeholders; this research project resulted in 9 behavioral science interventions for parents and health workers in Nepal.

Children with medical complexity (CMC) and their caregivers are at increased risk for multiple psychosocial stressors that can impact child and family well-being and health outcomes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when access to supports diminished, psychosocial screening and integrated behavioral health (IBH) services in the primary care setting were crucial in identifying and addressing the unique needs of this population. Universal screening to identify psychosocial needs was implemented in a primary care clinic for CMC that includes IBH services. Data on the prevalence of psychosocial screening and IBH services for young children and their caregivers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated.

Considering the concerns regarding the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine safety among pediatric patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) due to a lack of data, an urgent need for studies evaluating safety profiles of vaccines emerged. Among participants vaccinated by CoronaVac inactive SARS-CoV-2 or BNT162b2 messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine, healthy children under 18 and patients under 21 with an at least 1-year follow-up period in our department for a childhood-onset rheumatic disease were included into this cross-sectional study.

This study investigated prevalence of psychological distress, factors associated with distress, and experiences of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also compared distress in this group to previously surveyed Canadian AYAs with cancer in 2018 by the Young Adults with Cancer in their Prime (YACPRIME) study. A cross-sectional, online, self-administered survey of AYAs diagnosed with cancer between 15 and 39 years of age was conducted. Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Associations between variables and high psychological distress (K10 ≥ 25), and comparison of prevalence of psychological distress with the YACPRIME study were done using multivariable logistic regression. Summative qualitative content analysis analyzed participant experiences during this pandemic.

Children vaccination is a key intervention for their survival, especially among refugees. Yet, children vaccination registration is done manually in refugees camps and there is no possibility to send reminders to parents to come back on time. This study aimed to boost the parental registration of children’s vaccination records on a Children Immunization app (CIMA) while also availing the parents with useful parenting skills under COVID-19-related stress. It incorporated United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Parenting Skills under COVID-19 information material, through CIMA in Arabic and English languages. 1100 children were recruited in February–March 2021, through a community health promotion dissemination approach. A team of two nurses from the local population and two volunteers (one trained nurse and one trained social worker), from the camp, was formed. They promoted the CIMA app at two clinics and through households visits in Zaatari refugee camp. Qualitative data on impressions and observations of the interactions with the Zaatari camp community were also collected.

The current study assessed the associations between pandemic-related stressors and physiological stress, as indexed by hair cortisol concentration (HCC), for mothers and their children (N = 180) aged 5–14-years old (M = 8.91). The associations between maternal HCC and children’s HCC and children’s behavioral adjustment were also examined. Mothers reported on COVID-19-related behaviors and children’s adjustment, and both mother and child participants collected and mailed hair samples between August and November of 2020.

In this study, it was aimed to determine the difficulties in receiving care for infants who are in neonatal intensive care during the pandemic process. In this phenomenological study, interviews were conducted with semi-structured questions with the participants. While collecting the data, both observation and interview techniques were used. The situations that prevent getting care from nurses are as follows. The inability to establish skin-to-skin contact with the infant, the problems caused by the equipment that nurses have to wear, and the fear of COVID-19. Conditions that prevent receiving care from the mother are as follows: removal of family visits, interruption of kangaroo care, failure to initiate breastfeeding. As a result, infants faced many difficulties in receiving care during the pandemic period and their care could not be applied properly and regularly.

This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on youth sport parents based on competition level to understand how the pandemic affected youth sport and factors associated with youth returning to sport. Survey data were collected from samples of US sport parents in two waves - early in the pandemic (N = 751) and as programs began to resume (N = 707). Data showed elite sport parents were more willing to return. Although most participants returned to play, significant numbers had not resumed participation. Parent comfort was the most important factor associated with resuming. However, parents allowed children to resume play due to perceived external pressure, potentially creating stress among parents regarding sport participation decisions. Attending school in person and household income were associated with the ability to resume sport suggesting the need to provide school sport environments and consider the financial impacts of COVID-19 on sport families.

The COVID-19 pandemic occurred during planned neurodevelopmental follow-up of Colombian children with antenatal Zika-virus exposure. The objective of the study was to leverage the institution's telemedicine infrastructure to support international clinical child outcome research. In a prospective cohort study of child neurodevelopment (NCT04398901), we used synchronous telemedicine to remotely train a research team and perform live observational assessments of children in Sabanalarga, Colombia. An observational motor and conceptional standardized tool kit was mailed to Colombia; other materials were translated and emailed; team training was done virtually. Children were recruited by team on the ground. Synchronous activities were video-recorded directly to two laptops, each with a telehealth Zoom link to allow simultaneous evaluation of "table" and "standing" activities, and backup recordings were captured directly on the device in Colombia.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a substantial drop in US children's preventive care, which had not fully rebounded by the end of 2020. We sought to estimate the overall prevalence of missed, skipped, or delayed preventive checkups among households with children in the last 12 months because of the pandemic. We used data from the US Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, Phase 3.1 (collected April-May 2021). The analytic sample included 48 824 households with ≥1 child or adolescent aged <18 years. We estimated both national and state-level prevalences, examined associations with sociodemographic and household characteristics, and described reasons for missed or delayed preventive visits.