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AUTHOR(S) Christina M. Rodriguez; Shawna J. Lee
Preliminary research early in the COVID-19 pandemic suggested children appeared to be at increased risk for child maltreatment, particularly as parents struggled with mental health and economic strains. Such strains were likely to influence parental emotions about their children, affecting their parent-child interactions to contribute to elevated maltreatment risk. To identify the potential affective elements that may contribute to such increased maltreatment risk, the current study focused on whether maternal worry about children’s behavior specifically as well as maternal anger were related to increased risk for neglect or physical or psychological aggression six months into the pandemic. The racially diverse sample included 193 mothers who completed an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in late September-early October 2020.
AUTHOR(S) Carmit Katz; Natalia Varela; Jill E. Korbin (et al.)
Alongside deficits in children's wellbeing, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an elevated risk for child maltreatment and challenges for child protective services worldwide. Therefore, some children might be doubly marginalized, as prior inequalities become exacerbated and new risk factors arise. This paper aims to provide initial insight into international researchers' identification of children who might have been overlooked or excluded from services during the pandemic.
AUTHOR(S) Fiona Morrison; Claire Houghton
AUTHOR(S) Michael Amick; Kathryn Bentivegna; Amy A. Hunter (et al.)
Previous studies of national emergency department (ED) data demonstrate a decrease in visits coded for physical abuse during the pandemic period. However, no study to date has examined the incidence of multiple child maltreatment types (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect), within a single state while considering state-specific closure policies. Furthermore, no similar study has utilized detailed chart review to identify cases, nor compared hospital data to Child Protective Services (CPS) reports. This study aims to determine the incidence of child maltreatment-related ED visits before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, including characterizing the type of maltreatment, severity, and CPS reporting.
AUTHOR(S) Harry Ferguson; Sarah Pink; Laura Kelly
AUTHOR(S) Zoe Picton-Howell
AUTHOR(S) Mengqing Long; Jia Huang; Yishun Peng (et al.)
AUTHOR(S) Fiorella Caron; Pierre Tourneux; Hyppolite Tchidjou Kuekou (et al.)
AUTHOR(S) Rachel Martin; Sonali Rajan; Faizah Shareef (et al.)
Childhood exposure to neighborhood firearm violence adversely affects mental and physical health across the life course. Study objectives were to (1) quantify racial disparities in these exposures across the U.S. and (2) assess changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, when firearm violence increased. The study used counts of children aged 5–17 years, disaggregated by U.S. Census racial category, for every census tract (N=73,056). Neighborhood firearm violence was the number of fatal shootings per census tract, based on 2015–2021 Gun Violence Archive data. Quasi-Poisson regressions were used to estimate baseline disparities and COVID-19‒related changes and examined differences across geographic regions.
AUTHOR(S) Lauren Risser; Rachel P. Berger; Veronica Renov (et al.)
Children experiencing family violence (child abuse and neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence) are at a particularly elevated risk for compounding challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, intimate partner violence (IPV) advocates, child protective services (CPS) caseworkers, and IPV and CPS administrators on the needs of children experiencing family violence during the pandemic were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews with IPV advocates, CPS caseworkers, and IPV and CPS administrators were conducted. Recruitment occurred through emails to national and state listservs, networks of the study team, and word of mouth. Interviews were completed through Zoom, took 45 to 60 minutes and were audio recorded. A mixed deductive-inductive content analysis approach was used.
AUTHOR(S) Stavros Stivaros; Michael Paddock; Azita Rajai (et al.)
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.
AUTHOR(S) Ruth A. Lewit; Meera Kotagal; Vincent P. Duron (et al.)
There has been concern that the incidence of non-accidental trauma (NAT) cases in children would rise during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the combination of social isolation and economic depression. This study aimed to evaluate NAT incidence and severity during the pandemic across multiple US cities. Multi-institutional, retrospective cohort study comparing NAT rates in children <18 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic (March-August 2020) with recent historical data (January 2015-February 2020) and during a previous economic recession (January 2007-December 2011) at level 1 Pediatric Trauma Centers. Comparisons were made to local and national macroeconomic indicators.
AUTHOR(S) Christina M. Theodorou; Erin G. Brown; Jordan E. Jackson (et al.)
The COVID-19 pandemic had widespread effects, including enhanced psychosocial stressors and stay-at-home orders which may be associated with higher rates of child abuse. This study aimed to evaluate rates of child abuse, neglect, and inadequate supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients ≤5 years old admitted to a level one pediatric trauma center between 3/19/20-9/19/20 (COVID-era) were compared to a pre-COVID cohort (3/19/19-9/19/19). The primary outcome was the rate of child abuse, neglect, or inadequate supervision, determined by Child Protection Team and Social Work consultations. Secondary outcomes included injury severity score (ISS), mortality, and discharge disposition.
AUTHOR(S) Amelia T. Collings; Manzur Farazi; Kyle Van Arendonk (et al.)
It is unclear how Stay-at-Home Orders (SHO) of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the welfare of children and rates of non-accidental trauma (NAT). This study hypothesized that NAT would initially decrease during the SHO as children did not have access to mandatory. A multicenter study evaluating patients <18 years with ICD-10 Diagnosis and/or External Cause of Injury codes meeting criteria for NAT. “Historical” controls from an averaged period of March-September 2016-2019 were compared to patients injured March-September 2020, after the implementation of SHO (“COVID” cohort). An interrupted time series analysis was utilized to evaluate the effects of SHO implementation.
AUTHOR(S) Samantha Vermeulen; Lenneke R. A. Alink; Sheila R. van Berkel (et al.)
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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