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Children and COVID-19 Research Library

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

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91 - 105 of 278
The unheld child: social work, social distancing and the possibilities and limits to child protection during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Harry Ferguson; Sarah Pink; Laura Kelly

Published: March 2022   Journal: The British Journal of Social Work
The COVID-19 pandemic changed dramatically the ways social workers engaged with children and families. This article presents findings from our research into the effects of COVID-19 on social work and child protection in England during the first nine months of the pandemic. Its aim is to provide new knowledge to enable realistic expectations of what it was possible for social workers to achieve and particularly the limits to child protection. Such perspective has become more important than ever due to knowledge of children who died tragically from abuse despite social work involvement during the pandemic.
Changes in children’s physical fitness, BMI and health-related quality of life after the first 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in England: a longitudinal study

AUTHOR(S)
Laura Basterfield; Naomi L Burn; Brook Galna (et al.)

Published: March 2022   Journal: Journal of Sports Sciences
This study aimed to assess one-year changes in physical fitness, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and body mass index (BMI), encompassing the 2020 COVID-19 UK lockdowns. Data were collected (October 2019, November 2020) from 178 8–10–year-olds in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 85% from England’s most deprived quintile. Twenty-metre shuttle run test performance (20mSRT), handgrip strength (HGS), standing broad jump (SBJ), sit-and-reach, height, body mass, HRQoL (Kidscreen-27 questionnaire) and sports club participation were measured. BMI z-scores and overweight/obesity were calculated (≥85th centile). Paired t-tests and linear regression assessed change, adjusting for baseline BMI. Significant (p<0.001) changes were observed: increases in mean BMI (+1.5kg·m−2), overweight/obesity (33% to 47%), SBJ (+6.8cm) and HGS (+1.5kg); decreases in 20mSRT performance (−3 shuttles), sit-and-reach (−1.8cm).
Young parents’ experiences of pregnancy and parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study in the United Kingdom

AUTHOR(S)
Bettina Moltrecht; Louise J. Dalton; Jeffrey R. Hanna (et al.)

Published: March 2022   Journal: BMC Public Health

Young parents (aged 16–24 years) in the perinatal period are at an increased risk of poor mental health especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to multiple risk factors including social and economic instability. COVID-19 related restrictions had profound implications for the delivery of perinatal care services and other support structures for young parents. Investigating young parents’ experiences during the pandemic, including their perceived challenges and needs, is important to inform good practice and provide appropriate support for young parents. Qualitative interviews were conducted with young parents (n = 21) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom from February – May 2021. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

UK children’s sleep and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Victoria C. P. Knowland; Elaine van Rijn; M. Gareth Gaskell (et al.)

Published: March 2022   Journal: BMC Psychology

Sleep and mental wellbeing are intimately linked. This relationship is particularly important to understand as it emerges over childhood. Here we take the opportunity that the COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting lockdown in the UK, presented to study sleep-related behaviour and anxiety in school-aged children. Parents and children were asked to complete questionnaires towards the start of the UK lockdown in April-to-May of 2020, then again in August of that year (when many restrictions had been lifted). We explored children’s emotional responses to the pandemic and sleep patterns at both time points, from the perspectives of parents and children themselves.

Risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in children: a prospective national surveillance study between January, 2020, and July, 2021, in England

AUTHOR(S)
Anna A. Mensah; Helen Campbell; Julia Stowe (et al.)

Published: March 2022   Journal: DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(22)00059-1

Reinfection after primary SARS-CoV-2 infection is uncommon in adults, but little is known about the risks, characteristics, severity, or outcomes of reinfection in children. This study aimed to assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in children and compare this with the risk in adults, by analysis of national testing data for England. National surveillance study to assess reinfection of SARS-CoV-2 in children in England  used national SARS-CoV-2 testing data to estimate the risk of reinfection at least 90 days after primary infection from Jan 27, 2020, to July, 31, 2021, which encompassed the alpha (B.1.1.7) and delta (B.1.617.2) variant waves in England. Data from children up to age 16 years who met the criteria for reinfection were included. Disease severity was assessed by linking reinfection cases to national hospital admission data, intensive care admission, and death registration datasets.

Changes in healthcare provision during covid-19 and their impact on children with chronic illness: a scoping review

AUTHOR(S)
Sapfo Lignou; Jenny Greenwood; Mark Sheehan (et al.)

Published: March 2022   Journal: INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing
This paper provides an overview of the evidence around how the health systems and policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic affected children with long-term conditions in the UK. It conducted a scoping review guided by the PRISMA-ScR Checklist. The PubMed and PsycINFO databases (2019-August 2021) were searched and screened for papers (of any design) by 2 reviewers independently. The electronic database search was supplemented by manual searching. A total of 32 papers were identified, including studies on UK paediatric populations, studies on chronic illness in the UK, and international studies on chronic illness and children (including data from the UK).
Children’s human rights under COVID-19: learning from children’s rights impact assessments

AUTHOR(S)
E. K. M. Tisdall; F. Morrison

Published: February 2022   Journal: The International Journal of Human Rights
Policy responses to COVID-19 have had dramatic impacts on children’s human rights, as much as the COVID-19 pandemic itself. In the rush to protect the human right of survival and development, new policies and their implementation magnified the challenges of taking a children’s rights approach in adult-oriented systems and institutions. This article explores these challenges, drawing on learning from the independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) on policies affecting children in Scotland during ‘lockdown’ in spring 2020. The article uses concepts from childhood studies and legal philosophy to highlight issues for children’s human rights, in such areas as children in conflict with the law, domestic abuse, poverty and digital exclusion. The analysis uncovers how persistent constructions of children as vulnerable and best protected in their families led to systematic disadvantages for certain groups of children and failed to address all of children’s human rights to protection, provision and participation. The independent CRIA illuminates gaps in rights’ accountability, such as the lack of children’s rights indicators and disaggregated data, children’s inadequate access to complaints and justice, and the need for improved information to and participation of children.
The pains and gains of COVID-19: challenges to child first justice in the pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Kathy Hampson; Stephen Case; Ross Little

Published: February 2022   Journal: Youth Justice
The global COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected justice-involved children. Youth justice policy changes and innovations have assisted communication and engagement with these vulnerable children during unprecedented times, while attempting to limit risks of contagion and criminalisation – all central tenets of the ‘Child First’ guiding principle for the Youth Justice System of England and Wales. While some changes have enhanced the experiences of some justice-involved children (gains), others have disproportionately disadvantaged justice-involved children in court, community and custody contexts (pains), increasing criminalisation, disengagement and anxiety. These pains of COVID-19 have effectively eroded the rights of this already-vulnerable group of children.
Relationship-based practice and digital technology in child and family social work: learning from practice during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Ruth Copson; Anne M. Murphy; Laura Cook (et al.)

Published: February 2022   Journal: Developmental Child Welfare
Vital services provided by social workers to children in care or on the edge of care were largely delivered “online” during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores the potential impact of these changes on vulnerable children and their families. Relationship-based practice is integral to social work and the shift to digital communication during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to accelerated practice changes and implications for relationship building both with and between service users. Going forward, social workers and other professionals are likely to move to an increasingly hybrid model of communication, combining both digital and face-to-face methods. This article identifies the impact of digital communication on relationships in professional practice, drawing on three studies of digital communication in the UK carried out at the University of East Anglia.
Covid-19, social restrictions, and mental distress among young people: a UK longitudinal, population-based study

AUTHOR(S)
Gemma Knowles; Charlotte Gayer-Anderson; Alice Turner (et al.)

Published: February 2022   Journal: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Adolescence is a critical period for social and emotional development. This study sought to examine the impacts of Covid-19 and related social restrictions and school closures on adolescent mental health, particularly among disadvantaged, marginalised, and vulnerable groups. It analysed four waves of data – 3 pre-Covid-19 (2016–2019) and 1 mid-Covid-19 (May–Aug 2020; n, 1074; 12–18 years old, >80% minority ethnic groups, 25% free school meals) from REACH (Resilience, Ethnicity, and AdolesCent Mental Health), an adolescent cohort based in inner-London, United Kingdom. Mental health was assessed using validated measures at each time point. The study estimated temporal trends in mental distress and examined variations in changes in distress, pre- to mid-Covid-19, by social group, and by pre- and mid-pandemic risks.

Online peer support training to promote adolescents’ emotional support skills, mental health and agency during COVID-19: randomised controlled trial and qualitative evaluation

AUTHOR(S)
Gabriela Pavarini; Tessa Reardon; Anja Hollowell (et al.)

Published: February 2022   Journal: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Adolescents often look to their peers for emotional support, so it is critical that they are prepared to take on a supportive role, especially during a health crisis. Using a randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN99248812, 28/05/2020), this study tested the short-term efficacy of an online training programme to equip young people with skills to support to their peers’ mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, one-hundred UK adolescents (aged 16–18) recruited through social media were randomly allocated (1:1) to immediate 5-day peer support training or a wait-list, via an independently generated allocation sequence. Primary outcomes were indicators of ability to help others (motivation, perceived skills, frequency of help provided, compassion to others and connectedness to peers). Secondary outcomes included emotional symptoms, mental wellbeing, and indicators of agency (civic engagement and self-efficacy).
Happier during lockdown: a descriptive analysis of self-reported wellbeing in 17,000 UK school students during Covid-19 lockdown

AUTHOR(S)
Emma Soneson; Stephen Puntis; Nikki Chapman (et al.)

Published: February 2022   Journal: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Relatively little research has focused on children and young people (CYP) whose mental health and wellbeing improved during Covid-19 lockdown measures. This study aimed to (1) determine the proportion of CYP who self-reported improvement in their mental wellbeing during the first Covid-19 lockdown and (2) describe the characteristics of this group in relation to their peers. It conducted a descriptive analysis of data from the 2020 OxWell Student Survey, a self-report, cross-sectional survey of English CYP. A total of 16,940 CYP primarily aged 8–18 years reported on change in mental wellbeing during lockdown. The study characterised these CYP in terms of school, home, relational, and lifestyle factors as well as feelings about returning to school.
Rate and severity of radiological features of physical abuse in children during the first UK-wide COVID-19 enforced national lockdown

AUTHOR(S)
Stavros Stivaros; Michael Paddock; Azita Rajai (et al.)

Published: February 2022   Journal: Archives of Disease in Childhood

This paper aims to assess the number, type and outcome of radiological investigations for children presenting to hospital with suspected physical abuse (SPA; including abusive head trauma) during the first national COVID-19 enforced lockdown compared with the prelockdown period. Rate and severity of radiological features of physical abuse in children during the first UK-wide COVID-19 enforced national lockdown.

Young people’s experiences of COVID-19 messaging at the start of the UK lockdown: lessons for positive engagement and information sharing

AUTHOR(S)
Sofia T. Strömmer; Divya Sivaramakrishnan; Sarah C. Shaw (et al.)

Published: February 2022   Journal: BMC Public Health

To reduce COVID-19 infection rates during the initial stages of the pandemic, the UK Government mandated a strict period of restriction on freedom of movement or ‘lockdown’. For young people, closure of schools and higher education institutions and social distancing rules may have been particularly challenging, coming at a critical time in their lives for social and emotional development. This study explored young people’s experiences of the UK Government’s initial response to the pandemic and related government messaging. This qualitative study combines data from research groups at the University of Southampton, University of Edinburgh and University College London. Thirty-six online focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 150 young people (Southampton: n = 69; FGD = 7; Edinburgh: n = 41; FGD = 5; UCL: n = 40; FGD = 24). Thematic analysis was conducted to explore how young people viewed the government’s response and messaging and to develop recommendations for how to best involve young people in addressing similar crises in the future.

Uptake of infant and preschool immunisations in Scotland and England during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study of routinely collected data

AUTHOR(S)
Fiona McQuaid; Rachel Mulholland; Yuma Sangpang Rai (et al.)

Published: February 2022   Journal: Plos Medicine

In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and lockdown control measures threatened to disrupt routine childhood immunisation programmes with early reports suggesting uptake would fall. In response, public health bodies in Scotland and England collected national data for childhood immunisations on a weekly or monthly basis to allow for rapid analysis of trends. The aim of this study was to use these data to assess the impact of different phases of the pandemic on infant and preschool immunisation uptake rates. This study conducted an observational study using routinely collected data for the year prior to the pandemic (2019) and immediately before (22 January to March 2020), during (23 March to 26 July), and after (27 July to 4 October) the first UK “lockdown”. Data were obtained for Scotland from the Public Health Scotland “COVID19 wider impacts on the health care system” dashboard and for England from ImmForm.

91 - 105 of 278

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.

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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.
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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.