Children and COVID-19 Research Library

Disrupted access to social and healthcare professional support during the COVID-19 pandemic have had an adverse effect on maternal mental health. Motherhood is a key life transition which increases vulnerability to experience negative affect. This study aims to explore UK women’s postnatal experiences of social and healthcare professional support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the provision of maternity care worldwide. The continuation of maternity services during the pandemic is vital, but midwives have reported feeling overwhelmed in providing these services at this time. However, there are limited studies in Indonesia that have explored the experiences of midwives in providing care during the pandemic. This study aims to explore Indonesian midwives’ experiences in providing maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Well-being apps represent a promising and scalable approach for improving mental health outcomes in youth, especially during a global pandemic when access to face-to-face interventions may be limited. Whitu (meaning 7 in the New Zealand Māori language Te Reo) is a newly developed well-being app with 7 modules that support young people to learn and practice evidence-based coping skills, including relaxation, mindfulness, self-compassion, and goal-setting. This pilot explored the acceptability, usability, and preliminary efficacy of Whitu before refining the app for a randomized controlled trial (RCT).

This study aims to o assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rates of hospital visitation and rates and durations of developmental care practices for infants born preterm. It analyzed electronic medical record data from 129 infants born at less than 32 weeks gestational age (GA) cared for in the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a COVID-19-affected period (March 8, 2020 to Nov 30, 2020, n = 67) and the analogous period in 2019 (n = 62). Rates of family visitation and of family- and clinical staff-delivered developmental care were compared across cohorts, adjusting for covariates.

The research was conducted to determine the hand hygiene and mask-wearing behaviors and related factors of secondary school students in the COVID-19 pandemic process. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between March 02–April 022021 with 1284 students who continued their secondary education in a province in the east of Turkey. The data were collected face-to-face through the Descriptive Characteristics Form, the Mask-Wearing Behavior Form, and the Hand Hygiene Behavior Form. Percentage, mean, t-test in independent groups, Mann Whitney U test and Multiple Regression analysis were used in the evaluation of the data. Ethical principles were observed at all stages of the study.

Families' health, safety, and economic stability were jeopardized during the pandemic. Parental stress is a risk factor for hostile and less supportive parenting. Parenting styles are a set of attitudes, feelings and behaviors related to parenting that modulate the child's psychosocial functioning and might impact on the adaptability to a stressful time. This study aims to investigate the group differences among children raised by negative and positive parenting families during COVID-19 pandemic.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period, the use of emergency services with pediatric non-COVID patients has decreased considerably. We aimed to examine whether there was a change in the demographic data, triage profile, causes, management, and cost of pediatric emergency department (PED) visits of non-COVID patients during the pandemic period. This study was a retrospective, single-center, observational comparative study that was conducted at the PED. Patient records were examined during “the pandemic spring” and the same period of the previous year.

The Toxic Stress Schema (TSS) is an ecological framework with a social justice lens for identifying and alleviating stress and strengthening social determinants of health for children and families of color impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the cumulative effects of racism and generational, systemic inequities. Relevant literature is reviewed, and examples were provided to illustrate the differential impacts of the “stress superstorm” of 2020 had on children of color based on their family's position on the advantage–disadvantage continuum.

Vaccinating children (≤17 years old) is important for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. As parents are primary decision makers for their children, this study aimed to assess parents’ perceptions and intentions regarding COVID-19 vaccination for their children, including for some underserved populations (e.g., newcomers, Indigenous peoples, and visible minority groups). It conducted a cross-sectional national survey of Canadian parents in December 2020, just as COVID-19 vaccines were approved for adults, to assess intention to vaccinate their children (aged 0–17 years) against COVID-19, perceptions of COVID-19 disease and vaccines, previous uptake of influenza and routine vaccines, and sociodemographic characteristics. Binomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between parents' lack of COVID-19 vaccination intention for their children and various independent variables.

Economic, social, and psychologic stressors are associated with an increased risk for abusive injuries in children. Prolonged physical proximity between adults and children under conditions of severe external stress, such as witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic with “shelter-in-place orders”, may be associated with additional increased risk for child physical abuse. This study hypothesized that child physical abuse rates and associated severity of injury would increase during the early months of the pandemic as compared to the prior benchmark period. A nine-center retrospective review of suspected child physical abuse admissions across the Western Pediatric Surgery Research Consortium was conducted. Cases were identified for the period of April 1-June 30, 2020 (COVID-19) and compared to the identical period in 2019. Patient demographics, injury characteristics, and outcome data were also collected.