Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The COVID-19 crisis forced schools to temporarily close from March 2020 to June 2020, producing unpredictable changes in instructional contexts and patterns. A new concept of ‘homeschooling’ emerged which required parents to support the implementation of the curriculum through remote learning. This article is based on a case study focusing on the perceptions of experiences of ten parents of Elementary school children during the school lockdown in Alberta, Canada. Parents argue that the schools’ demands on them were unreasonable. These added to the stress of the quarantine and professional losses, and to the burden of working full-time, fulflling household responsibilities, and having children rely mostly on parents to deliver an often brief, ‘shallow’ weekly lesson plan that lacked clear expectations and reliable assessment pieces. Parents also strongly cast doubts on the popular reliability of online education by suggesting the unsuitability of online tools to promote independent learning among young children. The study may provide valuable contributions to further inform how to better support learning from home during this ongoing pandemic.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families have represented a fragile population on which the extreme circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak may have doubly impaired. Interruption of therapeutical interventions delivered in-person and routine disruption constituted some of the main challenges they had to face. This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on adaptive functioning, behavioral problems, and repetitive behaviors of children with ASD.

Italy was the first country in Europe to implement a nationwide lockdown. Children and their families lived in nearly complete isolation for almost two months. Students missed 65 days of school compared to an average of 27 missed days among high-income countries worldwide. This prolonged break is of concern, as even short breaks in schooling can cause significant loss of learning for children and lead to educational inequalities over time. At least 3 million Italian students may not have been reached by remote learning due to a lack of internet connectivity or devices at home.

This report explores children’s and parents’ experiences of remote learning during the lockdown in Italy, drawing on data collected from 11 European countries (and coordinated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center). It explores how children's access and use of digital technologies changed during the pandemic; highlights how existing inequalities might undermine remote learning opportunities, even among those with internet access; and provides insights on how to support children’s remote learning in the future.

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La didattica a distanza durante l’emergenza COVID-19: l’esperienza italiana

L'Italia e’ stata il primo paese in Europa ad aver applicato la misura del lockdown su tutto il territorio. I bambini e le loro famiglie hanno vissuto in quasi completo isolamento per circa due mesi. Gli studenti hanno perduto 65 giorni di scuola rispetto ad una media di 27 negli altri paesi ad alto reddito del mondo. Questa interruzione prolungata rappresenta motivo di preoccupazione, in quanto persino interruzioni piu’ brevi nella didattica possono causare significative perdite nel livello di istruzione dei ragazzi e portare  col tempo a diseguaglianze educative. Almeno 3 milioni di studenti in Italia non sono stati coinvolti nella didattica a distanza a causa d una mancanza di connessione ad internet o di dispositivi adeguati a casa.

Questo rapporto analizza l’esperienza della didattica a distanza di ragazzi e genitori in Italia durante il lockdown, sulla base dei dati raccolti in 11 paesi europei (e coordinati dal Centro comune di ricerca della Commissione Europea). Studia il cambiamento nell’accesso e nell’uso delle tecnologie digitali dei bambini e ragazzi durante la pandemia; mette in evidenza come le diseguaglianze esistenti possano diminuire le opportunità offerte dalla didattica a distanza, anche tra coloro che hanno accesso ad internet; e fornisce approfondimenti su come sostenere la didattica a distanza di bambini e ragazzi in futuro.

Italy was the first country in Europe to implement a nationwide lockdown. Children and their families lived in nearly complete isolation for almost two months. Students missed 65 days of school compared to an average of 27 missed days among high-income countries worldwide. This prolonged break is of concern, as even short breaks in schooling can cause significant loss of learning for children and lead to educational inequalities over time. At least 3 million Italian students may not have been reached by remote learning due to a lack of internet connectivity or devices at home.

This report explores children’s and parents’ experiences of remote learning during the lockdown in Italy, drawing on data collected from 11 European countries (and coordinated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center). It explores how children's access and use of digital technologies changed during the pandemic; highlights how existing inequalities might undermine remote learning opportunities, even among those with internet access; and provides insights on how to support children’s remote learning in the future.

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La didattica a distanza durante l’emergenza COVID-19: l’esperienza italiana

L'Italia e’ stata il primo paese in Europa ad aver applicato la misura del lockdown su tutto il territorio. I bambini e le loro famiglie hanno vissuto in quasi completo isolamento per circa due mesi. Gli studenti hanno perduto 65 giorni di scuola rispetto ad una media di 27 negli altri paesi ad alto reddito del mondo. Questa interruzione prolungata rappresenta motivo di preoccupazione, in quanto persino interruzioni piu’ brevi nella didattica possono causare significative perdite nel livello di istruzione dei ragazzi e portare  col tempo a diseguaglianze educative. Almeno 3 milioni di studenti in Italia non sono stati coinvolti nella didattica a distanza a causa d una mancanza di connessione ad internet o di dispositivi adeguati a casa.

Questo rapporto analizza l’esperienza della didattica a distanza di ragazzi e genitori in Italia durante il lockdown, sulla base dei dati raccolti in 11 paesi europei (e coordinati dal Centro comune di ricerca della Commissione Europea). Studia il cambiamento nell’accesso e nell’uso delle tecnologie digitali dei bambini e ragazzi durante la pandemia; mette in evidenza come le diseguaglianze esistenti possano diminuire le opportunità offerte dalla didattica a distanza, anche tra coloro che hanno accesso ad internet; e fornisce approfondimenti su come sostenere la didattica a distanza di bambini e ragazzi in futuro.

This survey has been conducted among 735 parents to determine differences in endorsement of misinformation related to the coronavirus disease pandemic between parents of children in cancer treatment and those with children who had no cancer history. Parents of children with cancer were more likely to believe misinformation than parents of children without cancer.

Italy was the first country in Europe to implement a nationwide lockdown. Children and their families lived in nearly complete isolation for almost two months. Students missed 65 days of school compared to an average of 27 missed days among high-income countries worldwide. This prolonged break is of concern, as even short breaks in schooling can cause significant loss of learning for children and lead to educational inequalities over time. At least 3 million Italian students may not have been reached by remote learning due to a lack of internet connectivity or devices at home.

This report explores children’s and parents’ experiences of remote learning during the lockdown in Italy, drawing on data collected from 11 European countries (and coordinated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center). It explores how children's access and use of digital technologies changed during the pandemic; highlights how existing inequalities might undermine remote learning opportunities, even among those with internet access; and provides insights on how to support children’s remote learning in the future.

***

La didattica a distanza durante l’emergenza COVID-19: l’esperienza italiana

L'Italia e’ stata il primo paese in Europa ad aver applicato la misura del lockdown su tutto il territorio. I bambini e le loro famiglie hanno vissuto in quasi completo isolamento per circa due mesi. Gli studenti hanno perduto 65 giorni di scuola rispetto ad una media di 27 negli altri paesi ad alto reddito del mondo. Questa interruzione prolungata rappresenta motivo di preoccupazione, in quanto persino interruzioni piu’ brevi nella didattica possono causare significative perdite nel livello di istruzione dei ragazzi e portare  col tempo a diseguaglianze educative. Almeno 3 milioni di studenti in Italia non sono stati coinvolti nella didattica a distanza a causa d una mancanza di connessione ad internet o di dispositivi adeguati a casa.

Questo rapporto analizza l’esperienza della didattica a distanza di ragazzi e genitori in Italia durante il lockdown, sulla base dei dati raccolti in 11 paesi europei (e coordinati dal Centro comune di ricerca della Commissione Europea). Studia il cambiamento nell’accesso e nell’uso delle tecnologie digitali dei bambini e ragazzi durante la pandemia; mette in evidenza come le diseguaglianze esistenti possano diminuire le opportunità offerte dalla didattica a distanza, anche tra coloro che hanno accesso ad internet; e fornisce approfondimenti su come sostenere la didattica a distanza di bambini e ragazzi in futuro.

Little is known about the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on children with attention-deficit hyperkinetic disorder (ADHD). This study aimed to assess the impact of lockdown on children with the ADHD, and their families. Additionally, feasibility of carrying out “text message-based” intervention was evaluated.

This study indicates that COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the attitude, anxiety and mental status of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Saudi Arabia. The anxiety of parents during COVID-19 was significantly higher than before the COVID-19 situation. During COVID-19 pandemic the parent’s mental health issues were more related to loss in confidence, feeling of worthlessness and depression.

This article aims to evaluate if the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic influences parents’ intentions to have their children receive the 2020–2021 seasonal influenza vaccination. In May 2020, 2164 US parents and guardians of children ages 6 months to 5 years have been recruited to complete a brief online survey that examined parental behavior and decision making in response to experimental stimuli and real-world events.

Children with cancer were designated as clinically extremely vulnerable if they were to contract SARS‐CoV‐2 due to immune suppression in the early phase of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our aim was to explore experiences, information and support needs, and decision making of parents with a child with cancer in response to this phase in the United Kingdom. Parents of a child with cancer completed a survey at a time when the UK moved into a period of ‘lockdown’. An online survey was developed by the research team to capture parents’ experiences, information and support needs, and decision making, using closed statements and open text boxes. Descriptive quantitative analyses and qualitative thematic content analysis were undertaken.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has forced parents and children to adopt significant changes in their daily routine, which has been a big challenge for families, with important implications for family stress. This study aims to analyze the potential risk and protective factors for parents’ and children’s well-being during a potentially traumatic event such as the COVID-19 quarantine. Specifically, it investigates parents’ and children’s well-being, parental stress, and children’s resilience. The study involved 463 Italian parents of children aged 5–17.

This article examines telepsychology delivery to meet families’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The review describes how to use treatment fidelity as a guiding principle to orient adaptations for telepsychology, as well as preliminary findings and early lessons learned in the implementation.

This systematic review examines the impact of social restriction on mental and developmental health in parents and children/adolescents. Findings indicate that the tools used to mitigate the threat of a pandemic such as COVID-19 may very well threaten child growth and development. These tools — such as social restrictions, shutdowns, and school closures — contribute to stress in parents and children and can become risk factors that threaten child growth and development. Adverse childhood experiences increase the risk of developmental delays and health problems in adulthood, such as cognitive impairment, substance abuse, depression, and non-communicable diseases.
Information about the impact of epidemics on parents and children is relevant to policy makers to aid them in developing strategies to help families cope with epidemic/pandemic-driven adversity and ensure their children’s healthy development.

This is a cross sectional parental survey, to assess the impacts of home confinement on children in the cosmopolitan city of Dubai, UAE. Children included were from 3 years until 16 years old who were in schools or pre-school placements before COVID-19 started. Total number of children included in the survey was 658 of which 327 were boys and 331 girls. We found that the impact of the home confinement on children was significant and directly affected their quality of life that may extend beyond the lockdown for longtime. This study will help relevant authorities and organizations to understand the negative impacts brought by the COVID-19 confinement on children and to adopt appropriate strategies to help children and their parents tackle these impacts and get them back to normal life and school again. This study also paved the way for future studies in the identification and management of children’s behavior, attention, education, and other factors that play active roles in quality of life and normal development. Moreover, this study may help in embracing early preventative and management plans by schools and authorities in future similar pandemics, infections, disasters or school outbreaks. We also discuss strategies for school reopening and flexibility when an outbreak happens again in a school or community.