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Children and COVID-19 Research Library

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

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46 - 60 of 5209
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.

Social media use as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multidimensional perspective on adolescents' well-being

AUTHOR(S)
Alexandra Maftei; Ioan-Alex Merlici; Oana D˘anil˘a

Published: January 2023   Journal: Frontiers in Public Health

Social media use was previously characterized as both a maladaptive coping mechanism, and a source of engagement with peers, suggesting an ambivalent effect. The present study explored how adolescents might use social media as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a multidimensional perspective on well-being. Its sample consisted of 259 Romanian teenagers aged 11–16 (M = 13.38, SD = 0.93, 57% males). It investigated the potential indirect effect of social media use, i.e., its cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions on the relationship between depressive symptoms and adolescents' well-being.

Pandemic isolation and mental health among children

AUTHOR(S)
Donald E. Brannen; Sheryl Wynn; Jaime Shuster (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
Mental health issues increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among children. Our past research efforts found that surveillance data can address a variety of health concerns; that personal psychological awareness impacted ability to cope, and mental health outcomes were improved when survivors were triaged to mental health countermeasures. To build upon our public health efforts this study wanted to see if increased screen time due to remote learning caused by the pandemic influenced school aged children’s mental health.
Analysis of the digital educational scenario in Italian high schools during the pandemic: challenges and emerging tools

AUTHOR(S)
Tiziana Guzzo; Maria Chiara Caschera; Fernando Ferri (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Sustainability
During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions around the world were forced to move from face-to-face lessons to distance learning. The application of distance learning fostered the use of new tools and applications that impacted the school system and produced several challenges to be addressed. This paper provides an analysis of distance learning tools that have been used during COVID-19 in Italian schools and the related emerging needs and challenges. A quantitative survey was carried out by using a standardized online questionnaire that involved 420 Italian teachers of different ages, gender, and teaching areas. This survey collected information about experiences, opportunities, and challenges of distance learning, used tools, and students’ inclusion and involvement. In addition, this work analyses emerging technologies and how they can be integrated into distance learning tools to overcome the identified challenges.
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).
Anxiety, COVID-19 risk, and LGBTQ+ youth's participation in an affirming summer camp

AUTHOR(S)
Traci K. Gillig; Alicia Booth; Leticia Couto

Published: January 2023   Journal: Journal of LGBT Youth
Rising levels of generalized anxiety among LGBTQ+ youth during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic suggest a need for understanding effective interventions for reducing anxiety, as well as factors influencing youth’s risk perceptions and trust pertaining to mental health-focused programming. The current survey-based study captures generalized anxiety, COVID-19 risk perceptions, and trust in a camp organization among 181 youth ages 12 to 18 who participated in an overnight camp for young LGBTQ+ people.
Factors associated with changes in e-cigarette use and tobacco smoking by adolescents and young people in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan; Omolola T. Alade; Heba Sabbagh (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Psychoactives
This study aimed to assess the proportion of adolescents and young people (AYP) in Nigeria who changed their frequency of e-cigarette use and tobacco smoking during the COVID-19 pandemic; and factors associated with the increase, decrease or no change in e-cigarette use and tobacco smoking (including night smoking). This study was a cross-sectional study of AYP recruited from all geopolitical zones in the country. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine if respondents’ health HIV and COVID-19 status and anxiety levels were associated with changes in e-cigarette use and tobacco smoking frequency.
"Mature enough to handle it?": gendered parental interventions in and adolescents' reactions to technology use during the pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Hillary Steinberg; Stefanie Mollborn; Jennifer Pace

Published: January 2023   Journal: Journal of Family Issues
This study investigated how teenagers reacted to parental regulation of technology. Using longitudinal dyadic interviews with 24 teenagers and their 21 parents in two predominantly white middle-class communities, it explored how teenagers used technology during the COVID-19 pandemic and the differential consequences parental interventions had for teens’ well-being and confidence with technology. Parents’ narratives and actions about technology use were deeply gendered. Boys felt confident about their self-regulation of technology, and parents did not substantially limit boys’ technology use during the pandemic. Girls were less confident about their ability to self-regulate and either worked with their mothers to manage technology, distrusted parents who monitored them, or lacked access to virtual hangout spaces such as video games and social media.
When not helping is nice: children's changing evaluations of helping during COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
Julia Marshall; Young-eun Lee; Paul Deutchman (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Developmental Psychology
A key aspect of children’s moral and social understanding involves recognizing the value of helpful behaviors. COVID-19 has complicated this process; behaviors generally considered praiseworthy were considered problematic during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study examined whether 6- to 12-year-olds (N = 228; residing in the United States) adapt their evaluations of helpful behavior in response to shifting norms. Specifically, we presented children with scenarios featuring helpful and unhelpful actions that involved physical interaction (e.g., hugging) or nonphysical interaction (e.g., recruiting a teacher); although all children were tested during the COVID-19 pandemic, stories portrayed individuals either before or during COVID-19.
Psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on achievement of adolescents with hearing impairment in English language

AUTHOR(S)
Samuel Olufemi Adeniyi; Olaotan Oladele Kuku

Published: January 2023   Journal: JOALL : Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature

This study examined psychosocial impact of Covid-19 on the achievement  of  secondary  school  adolescents  with  hearing disabilities  in  English  Language  in  Lagos  State.  A  survey research  design  was  employed  with  population  of hearing-impairedadolescents. A sample of hundred adolescents with hearing   impairment   was   selected   for   the   study   using purposive  sampling  technique  to  select  the participants  and simple  random  sampling  to  select  four  schools  practicing inclusion.  The  instruments  for  data  collection  were  ELAT (English Language Achievement Test) and Psychosocial Scale (PSS) with reliabilities of 0.69 and 0.79 respectively. Pearson Product   Moment   Correlation   Coefficient   and   Multiple Regression   were   used   to   analyse   data   collected.   The hypotheses    formulated    weretested    at    0.05    level    of significance.

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.
Visibility and well-being in school environments: children's reflections on the "New normal" of teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Susann Fegter; Miriam Kost

Published: January 2023   Journal: International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice
This paper aims to contribute to the theory on school-related well-being by applying a qualitative approach that focuses on children’s experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and conceptualizes them as an epistemic opportunity to reconstruct aspects of school-related well-being from children’s perspectives. Within the framework of the multinational qualitative study Children’s Understandings of Well-being (CUWB), it conceptualizes well-being as a cultural construct and argues for including children’s voices in the process of knowledge production. By drawing on statements from online interviews with 11- to 14-year-old children from Berlin, Germany in spring 2021 during school lockdown and by using a discourse analytical approach, the paper outlines the findings on visibility as a central feature of well-being in school environments that children make relevant for experiences of agency, security, and self.
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.
LGBTQ2S+ youth perspectives on mental healthcare provider bias, standards of care, and accountability

AUTHOR(S)
Michael Chaiton; Rachel Thorburn; Megan Sutton (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Youth
This study explores the experiences of LGBTQ2S+ youth while accessing mental health and substance use care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a series of facilitated virtual meetings, 33 LGBTQ2S+ youth from across Ontario participated in collaborative activities to identify barriers they have experienced when accessing mental health services, as well as potential solutions to these barriers. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Family functioning buffers the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for children's quality of life and loneliness

AUTHOR(S)
Micah A. Skeens; Kylie Hill; Anna Olsavsky (et al.)

Published: January 2023   Journal: Frontiers in Psychology
COVID-19 resulted in mass quarantine measures early in the pandemic. This disruption of daily life widened inequities and made children one of the most vulnerable populations during the crisis. This national, cross-sectional “COVID-Kids” study collected data from almost 500 parent–child dyads using standardized measures to better understand the effects of COVID exposure and impact on children’s quality of life and loneliness. Data were collected via social media from May to July 2020. According to parent proxy and child self-report, United States children experienced worse quality of life (p < 0.0001; d = 0.45 and 0.53) and greater child-reported loneliness (p < 0.0001) when compared to normative, healthy samples (i.e., children who do not have a chronic medical condition). Older children (r = 0.16, p = 0.001) and female children (r = 0.11, p = 0.02) reported greater loneliness. Higher child-reported family functioning scores were associated with better quality of life (r = 0.36, p < 0.0001) and less loneliness (r = −0.49, p < 0.0001). Moderated mediation analyses indicated the indirect effect of parent COVID impact on the association between COVID exposure and child quality of life was weaker in the context of better family functioning.
46 - 60 of 5209

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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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.