Parental Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Psychological Outcomes and Risk and Protective Factors.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review examines the challenges faced by parents in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, their emotional reactions, and risk and protective factors in their adjustment. Clinical and policy implications are discussed, and recommendations for future study are offered. RECENT FINDINGS: The literature reveals numerous stresses experienced by parents during the pandemic. Many parents facing COVID-19-related challenges suffered traumatic stress, depression, and/or anxiety, though most have adapted well over time. Demographic factors, pre-existing vulnerabilities, employment and household responsibilities, and family structure and cohesion influenced psychological outcomes. The pandemic lockdown created obstacles to accessing medical, mental health, educational, social, recreational, and other supportive programs and services for families, further increasing the burden on parents. The pandemic has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities and triggered pervasive parental stress. The lockdown affected families differently based on their pre-existing vulnerabilities and available resources. Additional research using more rigorous methodological approaches is warranted to identify and address the needs of parents during public health crises like pandemics.

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Mental Health.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This paper examines children's physical activity and sedentary behavior and associated psychological outcomes coincident with the COVID-19 pandemic. RECENT FINDINGS: Generally, the research has found decreased physical activity and increased sedentary behavior, both of which are associated with various psychological outcomes. The research on sedentary behavior has focused on screen time with minimal consideration of other sedentary behaviors or of specific physical activities or the context in which these behaviors occurred. Changes in children's daily routines and activities have received little attention in the mass trauma research despite the fact that disasters disrupt individual, family, and community life. Thus, the current report contributes to an understanding of the breadth of mass trauma effects, underscores the importance of physical activity and sedentary behavior and their associations with health and psychological outcomes, and is a reminder to consider children's daily lives both during times of crisis and under usual circumstances.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Children in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With its global spread and protracted threat, mounting morbidity and mortality, pervasive social and economic ramifications, vital public health measures, and often compromised risk communication, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk to children's emotional health relative to more common biological, natural, and man-made events. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and PTSD symptoms have been the primary focus of child disaster mental health research. The adult literature has questioned the appropriateness of focusing on PTSD in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, because most of the extensive adult research on PTSD has not appropriately assessed all diagnostic criteria for the disorder.1 The pandemic experiences of participants in most studies examined in a recent review did not meet the PTSD exposure criterion,1 which requires that exposure be "directly" experienced, witnessed in person, secondary to the involvement of a close family member or friend, or "repeated or extreme" contact with "aversive details" of the event.2 Instead, participants' experiences were primarily indirect (eg, media contact) and constituted fear related to contracting the disease.1 This concern extends to the relatively few empirical COVID-19 studies of PTSD in children and exemplifies a problem in many child disaster mental health studies, especially those assessing general population samples that primarily comprise children who do not meet the PTSD exposure criterion.

Inconclusive Findings in Studies of the Link Between Media Coverage of Mass Trauma and Depression in Children.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This paper reports a review of the empirical research examining the association between mass trauma media contact and depression in children, the factors that may influence the association, and the difficulties encountered in the study of media effects on depression. RECENT FINDINGS: All of the included studies assessed general population samples. Pre-COVID-19 research focused primarily on television coverage alone or on multiple media forms including television, while COVID-19 media studies examined various media forms including social media. Most studies used cross-sectional design and non-probability sampling. The review revealed inconclusive findings across studies. The study of mass trauma media effects on depression in children is complicated by a number of potential confounding factors and by the relatively high prevalence of depression in the general population. Media contact was a relatively minor consideration among other interests in the extant studies which failed to explore numerous issues that warrant attention in future research.

Children's Psychological Reactions to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This paper reviews the literature on the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and the reactions of vulnerable children. RECENT FINDINGS: Research reveals increases in clinically significant depression, suicidal ideation and behavior, and some anxiety symptoms. Substance use studies suggest an inadvertent decrease in substance use in some youth though findings are inconsistent across substances and for males and females. Children with pre-existing emotional and behavioral problems are especially vulnerable though some children appear to improve in the context of public health measures which have decreased the stresses associated with school and socialization. In addition, children with pre-existing problems are likely to have established resources and relationships that may protect them relative to other children. COVID-19 has had a major effect on the mental health of children around the world, but findings should be considered preliminary until more rigorous research has been conducted.

Challenges for Child Mental Health Raised by School Closure and Home Confinement During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted the education of children worldwide. This paper reviews the psychological effects of this action on children and the impact on school-based services. RECENT FINDINGS: Emerging epidemiologic findings have generated an intense debate about the need for, and potential benefit of, school closure in the context of COVID-19. International research reveals reactions in children that are not typically considered in the disaster literature as well as those that arise in other disasters. School closure also has curtailed the delivery of mental health services commonly offered in schools. The debate about school closure will likely persist depending on local disease conditions and school readiness. Moreover, school closure is a possibility in future epidemics and pandemics and other disasters. The benefit of school closure must be balanced against the risk to children's education and psychosocial development.