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Children and COVID-19 Research Library

UNICEF Innocenti's curated library of COVID-19 + Children research

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Are the kids alright? The early careers of education leavers since the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Sam Ray-Chaudhur; Xiaowei Xu

Published: January 2023
There is substantial evidence from the UK and other countries that entering the labour market during a recession leads to persistent negative effects on employment and earnings (von Wachter, 2020). Young people graduating from school or university during an economic downturn have a harder time finding employment, and those who do find work may be forced to take jobs that are less well-suited to their skills and the development of those skills. This can keep them on poorer career trajectories for years to come. This report presents the first evidence on how the cohorts of young people who entered the labour market during the pandemic have fared up to now.

Experiences of children and young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions

AUTHOR(S)
Veronica Bailie; Mark A. Linden

Published: January 2023   Journal: Disability and Rehabilitation

This paper aims to explore the experiences of children and young people (CYP) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic and lock down restrictions. Semi-structured, online interviews were conducted with 17 children and young people from the UK, Northern Ireland, aged 10–14 years with ADHD. Over half the participants had a co-existing diagnosis, such as autism spectrum disorder. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim before being subjected to thematic analysis.

Searching for online information on the fit of children's footwear during the COVID-19 pandemic: an analysis of Google Trends data

AUTHOR(S)
Carina Price; Stewart Morrison; Michael Haley (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Journal of Foot and Ankle Research
Selecting footwear with appropriate fit in children is challenging due the changes with foot size and dimensions which occur throughout childhood. Access to appropriate footwear is important but recent challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in closure of retail stores for prolonged periods where parents/carers could not physically purchase footwear for their children and the footwear industry suffered disruption to their supply chain, and falls in retail sales. Simultaneously increased use of social media platforms for health information seeking throughout the pandemic have been documented. This likely would have included parents/carers seeking information online to support footwear purchases for their children. The primary aim of this work was to explore how searches for online fitting information for children changed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown periods. A secondary aim was to identify how searches were influenced by footwear style.
Inequalities in children's mental health care: analysis of routinely collected data on prescribing and referrals to secondary care

AUTHOR(S)
William P. Ball; Corri Black; Sharon Gordon (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: BMC Psychiatry

One in eight children in the United Kingdom are estimated to have a mental health condition, and many do not receive support or treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted mental health and disrupted the delivery of care. Prevalence of poor mental health is not evenly distributed across age groups, by sex or socioeconomic groups. Equity in access to mental health care is a policy priority but detailed socio-demographic trends are relatively under-researched. This study analysed records for all mental health prescriptions and referrals to specialist mental health outpatient care between the years of 2015 and 2021 for children aged 2 to 17 years in a single NHS Scotland health board region. It analysed trends in prescribing, referrals, and acceptance to out-patient treatment over time, and measured differences in treatment and service use rates by age, sex, and area deprivation.

Effects of a parenting intervention for emotional and behavioral problems in young autistic children under conditions of enhanced uncertainty: two-year follow-up of a pilot randomized controlled trial cohort (ASTAR) during the United Kingdom COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
Melanie Palmer; Virginia Carter Leno; Victoria Hallett (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Most young autistic children display emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs). There is evidence that behavioral parenting interventions (BPIs) reduce these. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns can be seen as a natural experiment to test the longer-term effect of BPIs under conditions of increased uncertainty. Opportunistic follow-up (n = 49) of a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) cohort (n = 62 autistic children aged 6-11 years; originally randomized to a 12-week group BPI [Predictive Parenting; n = 31] or an attention control [Psychoeducation; n = 31]) was conducted during COVID-19−related lockdowns. Measures of parent-reported child irritability and parenting stress were collected at 3 time points (baseline: mean age = 6.7 years; primary endpoint: mean age = 7.1 years, ∼5 months after randomization; and COVID-19 follow-up: mean age = 8.8 years, ∼2 years after randomization). We tested the magnitude of intervention effects using point estimates of differences in child irritability and parenting stress between arms at primary endpoint and COVID-19 follow-up, covarying for baseline scores. We used area under the curve (AUC) analyses to obtain overall estimates of the average intervention effect across all 3 timepoints. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a subsample of parents (n = 18).
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.
Understanding the impact of home confinement on children and young people with ADHD and ASD during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Charlotte L. Hall; Christopher Partlett; Althea Z. Valentine (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Child Psychiatry & Human Development
To understand whether the mental health of children and young people (CYP) with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were differentially affected by COVID-19. This study analysed data (n = 6507) from the Co-Space study, a UK web-based longitudinal survey. CYP with ADHD (n = 160;2.5%), ASD (n = 465;7%), and ADHD + ASD (n = 155;2.4%) were compared with a reference group (n = 5727;88%) using parent-completed questionnaires [Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) & Pandemic Anxiety Scale (PAS)]. Baseline to 1-month follow-up differences were compared using linear regression models.
Caregiver perceptions of England's universal infant school meal provision during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Emyr Davies; Matia Vannoni; Sarah Steele

Published: January 2023   Journal: Journal of Public Health Policy
The United Nations (UN) recognises free school meals as critical, yet widely disrupted by COVID-19. This study investigated caregiver perceptions and responses to interruptions to the universal infant free school meal programme (UIFSM) in Cambridgeshire, England, using an opt-in online survey.
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.

Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage mothers' provision of primary education to their children in England during COVID-19: recommendations for involving mothers in policy decision-making processes

AUTHOR(S)
Aliya Khalid; Lavinia Kamphausen; Kate Spencer-Bennett

Published: January 2023   Journal: Routledge Open Research
During COVID-19, children have suffered learning losses across the world which will likely be carried forward to the future. In England, research and various reports were conducted to understand the extent of learning loss so policy could be improved for a more equitable educational provision. Two key areas were highlighted because of these investigations. Firstly, children in marginalised communities suffered the greatest share of educational disadvantages during COVID-19. Secondly, there is a scarcity of knowledge around the processes surrounding educational environments of learners. This study focused on mothers as partners and facilitators of education especially during COVID-19. Interviews were conducted with eight mothers in England with Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage exploring their experiences of educating their primary school-aged children during COVID-19.
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.
Children reading alone and reading together: literary representations and lessons from a pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Amy Marie Webster

Published: December 2022   Journal: Journal of Silence Studies in Education

This article first explores three literary representations of young people who are immersed in books by focusing on Alice’s sister in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Matilda. It argues that these characters create solitary reading experiences by being absorbed in books which provides escapism and company. It considers how representations of literary children immersed in books can provide a model of this type of reading behaviour for child readers, provided that these representations are sufficiently diverse. The article then focuses on primary literacy education in the United Kingdom and discusses how policy requirements can mean that children’s school reading experiences are often shared rather than solitary ones. It draws on a recent study of children’s reading habits (Topping, 2021) to highlight how children’s increased enjoyment in reading during the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic can be partly attributed to them having more time to read alone, which enabled them to become immersed in a story and made them feel better about being isolated. The article concludes by arguing that children need to have more opportunities in school to be alone with books to allow for immersive reading experiences.

Cite this research | Open access | Vol.: 2 | Issue: 1 | No. of pages: 12 | Language: English | Topics: Education | Tags: child education, COVID-19 response, lockdown, primary education, social distance, textbooks | Countries: United Kingdom
Pandemic, a catalyst for change: Strategic planning for digital education in English secondary schools, before during and post Covid

AUTHOR(S)
Jacqueline Baxter; Alan Floyd; Katharine Jewitt

Published: December 2022   Journal: British Educational Research Journal
Following lockdowns in 2020 owing to Covid-19, schools needed to find a way to ensure the education of their pupils. In order to do this, they engaged in digital learning, to varying extents. Innovations emanated from all school staff including, for example, teachers, leaders and teaching assistants. Some were already innovating in this area and brought forward and implemented digital strategies, while others engaged with digital learning for the first time. While research is emerging about the effects of the pandemic restrictions on pupils and staff in relation to key issues such as mental health and educational attainment, very little is known about the impact on school leaders' strategic planning processes. To address this gap, this paper draws on a UK Research and Innovation funded study adopting a strategy as learning approach to report on 50 qualitative interviews with school leaders to examine digital strategy in English secondary schools, before, during and after July 2021, when restrictions were lifted in England. It draws on strategy as learning literature to evaluate if schools have changed their strategic planning for digital learning, as a direct response to having learned and innovated during the pandemic.
The effect of school bullying on pupils' perceived stress and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study

AUTHOR(S)
Elizabeth J. Kirkham; C. F. Huggins; C. Fawns-Ritchie

Published: December 2022   Journal: Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma
Establishing how the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdowns have affected adolescent mental health is a key societal priority. Though numerous studies have examined this topic, few have focused on the wellbeing of pupils who experience school bullying. This is particularly important as pupils who experience bullying represent a vulnerable group at increased risk of mental illness. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the relationship between experience of bullying and adolescent wellbeing during lockdown and subsequent re-opening of schools. It used the TeenCovidLife dataset to examine the relationship between experience of bullying and pupils’ perceived stress and wellbeing across three timepoints. Pupils aged 12–17 (n = 255) completed surveys during the first Covid-19 lockdown (May-July 2020), when they returned to school after the first lockdown (August-October 2020), and during the summer term of 2021 (May-June 2021).
A qualitative study about how families coped with managing their well-being, children's physical activity and education during the COVID-19 school closures in England

AUTHOR(S)
Lisa Woodland; Ava Hodson; Rebecca K. Webster (et al.)

Published: December 2022   Journal: Plos One
In 2020, schools in England closed for six months due to COVID-19, resulting in children being home-schooled. There is limited understanding about the impacts of this on children’s mental and physical health and their education. Therefore, This study explored how families coped with managing these issues during the school closures. 30 qualitative interviews with parents of children aged 18 years and under (who would usually be in school) were conducted between 16 and 21 April 2020. Three themes and eight sub-themes that impacted how families coped whilst schools were closed were identified.
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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.