UNICEF Innocenti: Children and COVID-19 Research Library

My new normal: qualitative study on childhood under school closure

AUTHOR(S)
Chloe Maillard

Institution: Save the Children, Key Aid Consulting
Published: September 2021

My New Normal is a small qualitative study in Nepal and Zambia, that explores the impact on children’s lives under COVID-19 restrictions, particularly school closures. The study was commissioned and supported by Save the Children Sponsorship programs and led by Key Aid Consulting. It employs a range of methods, such as PhotoVoice, empathy mapping, emoji charts, and daily routine analyses, to give children a voice and opportunity to tell their story. The results have been used to support national advocacy campaigns, and have been disseminated in accessible ways back to the participating children and communities.

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Journal article

Parental support and positive mood buffer adolescents’ academic motivation during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Christel L. T. Klootwijk; Iris J. Koele; Jorien van Hoorn (et al.)

Published: September 2021 Journal: Journal of Research on Adolescence

School closures during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 severely disrupted adolescents’ lives. This study used a daily diary method for 20 days, including online and physical school days, assessing daily mood, social support and conflict, and academic motivation in 102 adolescents aged 12–16 years. It found that adolescents’ academic motivation was lower on online compared with physical school days. In general, positive mood was positively associated with academic motivation, and friend conflict related negatively to academic motivation. Moreover, lower levels of parental support were related to lower academic motivation on online versus physical school days. Overall, these findings identified some critical changes in adolescents’ daily experiences during the COVID-19 school closure and social-emotional factors that may buffer decreases in adolescents’ academic motivation.

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Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 16 | Language: English | Topics: Education, Mental Health | Tags: adolescent psychology, adolescent well-being, child education, COVID-19 response, lockdown, mental health services, mental stress, parent-child relationship, psychological distress, school attendance, social distance

Journal article

Implementation of SARS-CoV2 screening in K–12 schools using in-school pooled molecular testing and deconvolution by rapid antigen test

AUTHOR(S)
Nira R. Pollock; David Berlin; Sandra C. Smole (et al.)

Published: September 2021 Journal: Journal of Clinical Microbiology logo

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) testing is one component of a multilayered mitigation strategy to enable safe in-person school attendance for the K–12 school population. However, costs, logistics, and uncertainty about effectiveness are potential barriers to implementation. We assessed early data from the Massachusetts K–12 public school pooled SARS-CoV2 testing program, which incorporates two novel design elements: in-school “pod pooling” for assembling pools of dry anterior nasal swabs from 5 to 10 individuals and positive pool deconvolution using the BinaxNOW antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag RDT), to assess the operational and analytical feasibility of this approach. Over 3 months, 187,597 individual swabs were tested across 39,297 pools from 738 schools.

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Working paper

Teaching and testing by phone in a pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Lee Crawfurd; David K. Evans; Susannah Hares (et al.)

Institution: Center for Global Development
Published: September 2021

How did children learn while schools were closed during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic? In low-income countries where internet access is scarce, distance learning is often passive, via TV or radio, with little opportunity for teacher-student interaction. In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of live tutoring calls from teachers, using a randomized controlled trial with 4,399 primary school students in Sierra Leone. Tutoring calls increased engagement in educational activity but had no effect on mathematics or language test scores, for girls or boys. We also make a methodological contribution, testing the reliability of student assessments conducted by phone. Phone-based assessments have sensible properties, but we find suggestive evidence that scores are higher than with in-person assessments, and there is differential item functioning across survey modes for most individual questions.

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Policy brief

Schooling in time of COVID-19: practical tips for school administrators to help guide the reopening of schools as safely as possible

AUTHOR(S)
Kalpana Vincent; Viviane Bianco; Sarah Fuller (et al.)

Institution: *UNICEF
Published: September 2021

Protecting children from COVID-19 in school requires an effort from the entire community, including national and local governments, school administrators, teachers, parents/caregivers and students. To reopen schools as safely as possible and keep them open during the COVID-19 pandemic, consistent implementation of effective strategies to prevent COVID-19 transmission during all school-related activities is critical. This guide outlines practical tips to support school administrators in implementing safety measures and creating a safer learning environment for children. The decision to reopen schools should be guided by the best interests of children and the guidance of the local government and public health authorities in each country.

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Research Report

Tracking the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent girls in Kenya : special edition COVID-19 barometer

Institution: *UNICEF, Shujaaz Inc.
Published: August 2021

One of the objectives of this collaboration is to produce a range of youth-led, data-driven research products, providing insight into the most effective ways to support young people in East Africa. This special edition Barometer is designed to provide a snapshot into the lives of Kenyan girls aged 15-19 (also referred to as adolescent girls) in 2021. This edition of COVID-19 Barometer includes new insights from Shujaaz Inc’s annual national youth survey, which draws on face-to-face interviews with 2,015 young people conducted between December 2020 and January 2021. Drawing on additional qualitative research, the Barometer aims to provide an update on the challenges, lifestyles, priorities and aspirations of adolescent girls, during a turbulent pandemic. This edition focuses on key topics including education, sexual and reproductive health, financial security, mental wellbeing and resilience. We hope it provides a valuable update for organisations working with adolescent girls across Kenya, and inspiration for similar research in East and Southern African countries.

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Cite this research | No. of pages: 19 | Language: English | Topics: Education, Mental Health, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: adolescent girls, adolescent pregnancy, education of girls, gender equality, gender roles, reproductive health, violence against women, women's health, women's rights | Countries: Kenya | Publisher: *UNICEF, Shujaaz Inc.

Journal article

Positive and negative online experiences and loneliness in Peruvian adolescents during the COVID-19 lockdown

AUTHOR(S)
Lucía Magis-Weinberg; Christopher L. Gys; Estelle L. Berger (et al.)

Published: August 2021 Journal: Journal of Research on Adolescence

Global COVID-19 lockdowns have disrupted adolescents’ in-person social networks, increasing likelihood of loneliness. Social media can help adolescents maintain and develop peer relationships across distance. In this short longitudinal study with 735 Peruvian adolescents (ages: 11–17) from low-to-middle-income urban settings, we investigated whether online experiences relate to loneliness during initial stages of lockdown. Loneliness remained constant between week 6 and 11 of lockdown, was higher for females and similar across school-grades. Positive and negative online experiences were more frequent for older students, and females experienced more negative online experiences than males. Greater positive online experiences related to lower loneliness, with the reverse pattern for negative online experiences. Our results suggest that positive online experiences may mitigate loneliness during physical isolation.

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Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 17 | Language: English | Topics: Education, Mental Health | Tags: adolescent psychology, adolescent well-being, COVID-19 response, lockdown, mental health services, mental stress, psychological distress, school attendance, social distance, social media | Countries: Peru

Journal article

#Grateful: longitudinal associations between adolescents’ social media use and gratitude during the COVID-19 pandemic

AUTHOR(S)
Anne J. Maheux; Jacqueline Nesi; Brian M. Galla (et al.)

Published: August 2021

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some ways of using social media—such as directly communicating with friends—may have helped adolescents thrive. This study examined longitudinal associations between high school adolescents’ social media use and gratitude across a 15-month period before and during the pandemic (n = 704, Mage = 15.10; 52% girls). The trajectories of gratitude and the importance of social media for meaningful conversations with friends—but not frequency of social media use—were positively associated over time. At the within-person level, gratitude predicted increased importance of social media for meaningful conversations, but not vice-versa. Findings suggest that gratitude may be associated with and may motivate using social media to foster social connection, but may not increase overall social media use.

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Cite this research | Open access | Language: English | Topics: Education, Mental Health | Tags: adolescent psychology, adolescent well-being, child education, COVID-19 response, lockdown, mental health services, mental stress, psychological distress, school attendance, social distance | Countries: United States

Journal article

Social disconnection during COVID-19: the role of attachment, fear of missing out, and smartphone use

AUTHOR(S)
Natasha Parent; Kyle Dadgar; Bowen Xiao (et al.)

Published: August 2021 Journal: Journal of Research on Adolescence:

This mixed-methods study explored adolescents’ (n = 682) feelings of social connection in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and examined potential risk (fear of missing out, problematic smartphone use) and protective (parent/peer attachment, smartphone use) factors to social disconnection. Data were collected from two schools in Canada using an online survey with questionnaires and open-ended questions. Three themes regarding adolescents’ feelings of social connection during the pandemic were identified through thematic content analysis: (1) feeling socially connected, (2) feeling socially disconnected, and (3) feeling socially indifferent. Moreover, regression analysis identified secure peer attachments as a protective factor against social disconnection in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, while fear of missing out was identified as an independent risk factor.

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Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 16 | Language: English | Topics: Education, Mental Health | Tags: adolescent psychology, adolescent well-being, COVID-19 response, lockdown, mental health services, mental stress, parent-child relationship, psychological distress, social distance, social media | Countries: Canada

Journal article

Too lonely to help: early adolescents’ social connections and willingness to help during COVID-19 lockdown

AUTHOR(S)
Hagit Sabato; Yael Abraham; Tehila Kogut

Published: August 2021 Journal: Journal of Research on Adolescence

This research examined early adolescents’ social connections, their emotional state, and their willingness to act prosocially during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Two studies—comparing fourth to sixth graders during lockdown with a similar sample in pre-pandemic times, and longitudinally examining the same sample of participants, twice— found that overall, early adolescents’ emotional state during lockdown was significantly worse than in normal times (before the pandemic). This decline was explained by the participants’ ratings of their loneliness, which was linked to their social (virtual) connections during lockdown. Importantly, participants with fewer social connections (in the virtual world as well as in face-to-face interactions) were less willing to help a lonely peer—even though they experienced similar pangs of loneliness.

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Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 16 | Language: English | Topics: Education, Mental Health | Tags: adolescent psychology, adolescent well-being, COVID-19 response, lockdown, mental health services, mental stress, parent-child relationship, psychological distress, school attendance, social distance

Journal article

Adolescents' longitudinal school engagement and burnout before and during COVID-19: the role of socio-emotional skills

AUTHOR(S)
Katariina Salmela-Aro; Katja Upadyaya; Janica Vinni-Laakso (et al.)

Published: August 2021 Journal: ournal of Research on Adolescence

This longitudinal study examined school engagement and burnout profiles among early and middle adolescents before and during COVID-19, and within-class latent change and stability in students’ socio-emotional skills the profiles. The longitudinal data were collected in fall 2019 and 2020 from 1381 5th to 6th, and 1374 7th to 8th grade students. Using repeated measures latent profile analyses based on school engagement and burnout we identified five study well-being change profiles in both samples showing structural similarity: normative (53% sample 1; 69% sample 2), moderate-decreasing (4%; 5%), high-decreasing (17%; 10%), low-increasing (6%;7%) and moderate-increasing (20%; 10%) groups. The groups with increasing study well-being showed simultaneous increase in intrapersonal socio-emotional competencies but showed less changes in interpersonal outcomes.

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Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 12 | Language: English | Topics: Education, Mental Health | Tags: adolescent psychology, adolescent well-being, COVID-19 response, lockdown, mental health services, mental stress, psychological distress, school attendance, social distance | Countries: Finland

Journal article

Global estimates of the implications of COVID-19-related preprimary school closures for children’s instructional access, development, learning, and economic wellbeing

Published: August 2021 Journal: Child Development

Observational data collected prior to the pandemic (between 2004 and 2019) were used to simulate the potential consequences of early childhood care and education (ECCE) service closures on the estimated 167 million preprimary-age children in 196 countries who lost ECCE access between March 2020 and February 2021. COVID-19-related ECCE disruptions were estimated to result in 19.01 billion person-days of ECCE instruction lost, 10.75 million additional children falling “off track” in their early development, 14.18 million grades of learning lost by adolescence, and a present discounted value of USD 308.02 billion of earnings lost in adulthood. Further burdens associated with ongoing closures were also forecasted. Projected developmental and learning losses were concentrated in low- and lower middle-income countries, likely exacerbating long-standing global inequities.

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Journal article

Sibling conflict during COVID-19 in families with special educational needs and disabilities

AUTHOR(S)
Umar Toseeb

Published: August 2021 Journal: British Journal of Educational Psychology

Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SENDs) and their families have been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this longitudinal study, sibling conflict in these families during and after the first lockdown in the United Kingdom was investigated. Online questionnaires were completed by 504 parents of young people with SENDs at four time points between 23 March 2020 and 10 October 2020 (over half completed the questionnaire at multiple time points). As lockdown progressed, young people with SENDs were more likely to be picked on or hurt by their siblings compared with earlier stages of the lockdown but there was no change in how frequently they harmed or picked on their siblings. After lockdown, both perpetration and victimization decreased but not to the same rates as the first month of lockdown. Young people with SENDs with severe or complex needs were somewhat protected from sibling conflict.

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Journal article

Investigating the impact of covid-19 socialisation restrictions on children’s spiritual well-being: case studies from Poland and the UK

AUTHOR(S)
Krystyna Heland-Kurzak; Sarah Holmes

Published: August 2021 Journal: International Journal of Children's Spirituality

Parent and practitioners observations were examined to provide insights into the impact of covid-19 restrictions on children’s spiritual well-being, specifically related to reduced physical meeting of church communities in two case study contexts: Poland and the UK. Exploration of the four domains of spiritual wellbeing was carried out, with specific focus on how the abrupt changes in the communal domain may have impacted on other aspects of the child’s spiritual well-being. Significant variations in the response by churches during the pandemic were overlaid by disparate perceptions of the spiritual needs of children in these contexts. The extent to which these responses dovetailed with parental responsibilities and expectations of the church was considered alongside awareness of the changed nature of church’s activity with children during the pandemic.

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Journal article

Parental involvement during COVID-19: experiences from the special school

AUTHOR(S)
Una O'Connor; Jessica Bates; Jayne Finlay (et al.)

Published: August 2021 Journal: European Journal of Special Needs Education

The closure of schools worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic required parents to undertake key pedagogical roles to support their children’s education and movement to a remote, often virtual world of online teaching presented many challenges for families. For the parents of children attending special schools, the loss of educational, as well as therapeutic provision, added a further layer of complexity unique to this group. This paper presents findings from a Northern Ireland-wide survey undertaken during the first lockdown period. Using Hornby and Blackwell’s model of parental involvement (PI), the paper describes parents’ experiences relative to their child’s needs, family circumstances and societal expectations, and the intersection of these with teacher relationships and the wider school community. The findings reveal those factors that facilitated and inhibited PI and makes suggestions for improvements at school and policy levels in the short and longer term. The results have relevance and reach beyond the Northern Ireland context and should contribute to international dialogue on the synergy between PI and the special school setting.

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