Introduction
Method
Search Strategy and Information Sources
Study Selection and Inclusion Criteria
Results
Reference | Location(s) | Study type; design | Period | Sample characteristics | Methods | Key findings | Outcomes | Risk of bias (NOS)* |
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Almhizai et al. (2021) | Saudi Arabia | Cross-sectional | Mar 2021 | N = 454 adolescents aged 0–18; N = 688 parents of children | Online self-administered questionnaire | Older children showed less worry & restlessness, but higher sadness; being older was associated with sleep problems, uneasiness, and nervousness. Having relatives with COVID is associated with higher increases in anxiety, sadness, sleep problems, indecisiveness, and irritability. Children from divorced families showed higher anxiety, restlessness, and sleep problems | Worry; restlessness; sadness; sleep problems; anxiety, indecisiveness; irritability | 6 |
Anderson et al. (2022) | United States | Cross-sectional survey study | January–June 2021 | Nationally representative data from US public and private high school students in grades 9–12. N = 4390 high school aged adolescents < 18 years old | Voluntary probability-based online Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey | Nearly three of every four U.S. high school students reported at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) and one in 13 reported four or more ACEs during the COVID-19 pandemic | ACEs were common among adolescents in the United States during the pandemic and often resulted in acute consequences for mental health and suicidal behaviors | 7 |
Augusti et al. (2023) | Norway | Cross-sectional; Online Survey | January 2019–June 2021; Pre- and post- lockdown | Two samples of Norwegian 12–16 y.o. (n = 9240, M age (SD) = 14.11(0.88)) for prepandemic sample, (n = 3540 M age (SD) = 4.5 (0.96)) 1 year into the pandemic | Online survey that was given during school establishing measures of violence and exposure to sexual abuse | There was a 1.4% increase in sexual assault committed by an adult and a 3.9% decrease in psychological violence committed by a parent during the pandemic compared to one year before. All other incidences of violence and sexual abuse remained stable | Increase in sexual assault among adults; decrease in psychological violence | 6 |
Birkelund et al. (2023) | Denmark | Retrospective Observational Study | 2015–2021 | N = 200,000 students per year in grades 2, 4, 6, and 8 | Evaluated national test scores from The National Agency for IT and Learning containing results from standardized tests in reading conducted yearly between 2015 and 2021 among all Danish public school pupils in grades 2, 4, 5, and 8. This data was linked to the population-wide administrative registers at Statistics Denmark. The information obtained was demographic: gender, ethnic origin, family type, number of siblings, parental education, employment, and income | Results showed no evidence of major learning loss. However, among older children in Grade 8, results showed a decrease in reading performance of about 3 percentile points which corresponded to 7 weeks of learning loss using the World Bank benchmark for yearly learning progress | Results highlight that there may be evidence that the long school closures (14 weeks experienced by grade 8) may have a detrimental effect on children’s learning compared to only eight weeks (which is what grades 2 and 4 experienced) | 8 |
Barendse et al. (2023) | US, Netherlands, and Peru | Longitudinal | Assessments gathered before March 11 were considered pre-pandemic data, and data collected after was termed during-pandemic data | Data from 12 longitudinal studies, N = 1,339, 59% female, and participants were from 3 countries | Linear mixed-effect models were applied to the combined data. Scores were all converted to proportion of maximum scores (POMS) | The most negative impacts were observed in mixed-race individuals and those who experienced a lockdown period. Anxiety and depression symptoms were mediated by the strictness of the government restrictions in their area | Depression; interactions between race/ethnicity and depression and anxiety | 5 |
Brock et. al (2022) | United States | Cross-sectional and longitudinal design | March 2020–2022 | These families were already enrolled in a large‐scale longitudinal study of child development (N = 159 families) and had completed assessments prior to the onset of the pandemic (March 31, 2018 to March 10, 2020) | Participants were instructed to consider each item since March 13, 2020 to capture functioning after the start of the pandemic | The results of this growing body of research suggest that there has been elevated risk for parental mental health difficulties, family dysfunction, and child maladjustment due to disruption and hardship | Immediate and pre-pandemic factors that impacted families with young children | 5 |
Buzzi et al. (2020) | Italy | Cross-sectional | Lockdown (2020) | 2064 adolescents | Survey administered to adolescents, investigated four items: concerns and fears, information on the pandemic, provisions of public authorities, and impact on everyday life | 36.8%—concerns about negative impact on education | Concerns and fears; information on the pandemic and impact on everyday life | 4 |
Cauberghe et al. (2021) | Belgium | Survey Study | Lockdown | 2165 adolescents between 13 and 19 years old | Survey study tested how feelings of anxiety and loneliness contributed to their happiness level and whether different social media coping strategies mediated these relations | Feelings of loneliness had a higher negative impact on adolescent's happiness than feelings of anxiety. Anxious participants also reported using social media more often to actively seek out how to adapt to the current situation, and to connect with friends and family to a lesser extent | Social media can be used as a constructive coping strategy for adolescents to deal with anxious feelings during the COVID-19 quarantine | 4 |
Chen et al. (2020) | China | Cross-sectional | Not specified | 1036 adolescents, age 6–15 | Online questionnaire available from April 16, 2020 to April 23, 2020 for adolescents in Guiyang, China | 18.9% prevalence of anxiety; 11.8% prevalence of depression | Depression; anxiety | 4 |
Cooper et al. (2021) | United Kingdom | Cross-sectional, longitudinal study | First wave: during the first 11 weeks of the pandemic. Second wave: one month after 1st wave | N = 894 adolescents aged 11–16 years old (mean age = 13.37). 51.% boys, 70.7% had a household income of > £30,000 | Participants were recruited from Twitter and Facebook; data was obtained from the COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics (Co-SPACE) study. 2212 parents completed the Co-SPACE questionnaire providing demographics; self-report | Cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between loneliness, social contact, and parent relationships and mental health were investigated; those with closer relationships with their parents reported less severe symptoms of mental illness. Higher loneliness was associated with more severe mental illness symptoms | Loneliness; mental illness; decreased social contact | 7 |
Craig et al. (2022) | Canada | Cross-sectional; Online Survey | June 17–July 31 2020; during lockdown | Adolescents 12–18 y.o. (N = 809), M = 15.66, SD = 1.37, and 56.7% identified female. The second unrelated sample was N = 578 self-identified caregivers of adolescents aged 12–18 (ages 30 to 67, M = 45.12, SD = 5.83 and majority White (85.6%)) | All participants were recruited via social media advertisements. The Ontario Child Health Study Scales (OCHs) the COVID-19 Stress Scale reported on COVID-related stressors, the Conflicts Tactics Scale (CTS), and the Affect Regulation Checklist (ARC) were used. Scales were used on both parents and adolescents | Family stress from confinement was positively associated with physical and psychological maltreatment; adolescents and caregivers reported significant stress associated with being confined at home; over 40% of caregivers and youth reported CM at home. Affect dysregulation was identified as a key mechanism that accounts for the association between psychological maltreatment, adolescent mental health, and family stress | Affect dysregulation and suppression; decreased self-esteem; lower long-term wellbeing | 6 |
De France et al. (2022) | Canada | 2-Year Longitudinal Study | Waves 1–4 collected pre-pandemic, and Wave 5 was collected during the pandemic | Wave 1: N = 184, mean age = 13.9, 50.3% female. Wave 2: N = 172, Wave 3: N = 172, Wave 4: N = 161, Wave 5: 53.7% female, M age = 16.21 | Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS), and DERS-COVID were used in the data collection surveys | Anxiety and depression ratings in Wave 5 were much higher than the pre-pandemic model predicted | Anxiety; depression | 6 |
de Oliveira et al. (2021) | Brazil | Cross-sectional; Retrospective Observational Study | 2016–2020 | 609 reports of adolescents under 18 y.o, including all cases of sexual, physical, or self-inflicted violence against adolescents. All were either suspected or confirmed by clinical examination and were either family or self-reported | The review was conducted on victims assisted by the Pediatric Emergency Hospital Service in São Paulo between 2016 and 2020 using Individual Notifications for Interpersonal/Self-Inflicted Violence data. Analyses and linear regressions were performed on the data | A majority of the victims were white (52.9%), and female (76.7%). A majority of victims of physical violence were victimized in their homes, and sexual abuse was discovered in 63.2% of victims. There were no associations found between violence and socioeconomic or demographic factors | Increasing incidence of cases of sexual, physical, and self-inflicted violence in recent years | 7 |
Ding et al. (2022) | China | Online Survey; Retrospective Observational Study | September 2019–January 2020; October 2020–January 2021 | Baseline survey: September 2019–January 2020 (before the COVID-19 outbreak in China); N = 3636 preschool children. Follow-up survey: October 2020–January 2021; N = 2340, participants from baseline data collection were included | A longitudinal study including 1595 preschool children aged 3–6 years and their families was conducted in Anhui Province. The linear regression was applied to examine associations between the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on family life and emotional and behavioral health | Results of the multivariable linear regression indicated that the severe impact of COVID-19 pandemic on family life was significantly associated with more sleep problems, poor dietary behavior habits, more anxiety symptoms, and more problematic behaviors; and these effects exhibited gender and age differences | Risk of exacerbated emotional/ behavioral health in preschool children | 7 |
Dion et al. (2022) | Canada | Longitudinal; prospective self-report survey | T1 data collected between October and December of 2019, T2 data collected November 2020 and June 2021 | At T1, N = 1802 adolescents (mean age 14.74 years); at T2 N = 825 (ages 15–18, mean 15.84 years; SD = 0.73). 55.5% participants identified as boy, 42.2% as girl, and 1.5% as nonbinary | Students completed anonymous Qualtratics survey, data used was collected from an ongoing longitudinal study considering participation in sports and resilience. Participants provided information on demographics, child maltreatment experience, pandemic-related stress, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, self-esteem, and life satisfaction | COVID-19-related stress was associated with lower well-being (lower self-esteem and life satisfaction and higher internalizing and externalizing behavior problems). Having a history of CM had a moderating effect; the pandemic had a lesser impact on the outcomes of those who experienced CM. Those who reported CM were found to have lower levels of well-being than their counterparts, and those who experienced moderate-high COVID-19-related stress struggled more than their counterparts | CM is associated with more distress | 5 |
Duan et al. (2020) | China | Cross-Sectional, convenient sampling | Not specified | N = 359 children and 3254 adolescents; 50.15% Males | Online survey | Smartphone and internet addiction, urban living, family/friends infected with the coronavirus, interrupted milestones due to the pandemic (e.g., high school graduation), separation anxiety, fear of physical injury, and emotion-focused coping styles associated with increased depressive symptoms | Depression | 4 |
Dungan et al. (2023) | United States | Cross-sectional; Online Survey | August 2020–May 2022 | Mothers, fathers, and a child from their families are referred to as dyads (n = 43 total; n = 25 mothers; n = 18 fathers). The parents were not necessarily from the same family and were highly educated; children’s ages ranged from 4 months old to 17 | The main recruitment method was via the university email distribution list of faculty staff and students. Participants were also recruited through word of mouth. The participants completed the study between August 2020 and May 2022 | Results indicate that experiencing high COVID-19-related stressors is associated with lower EA for mothers, but not fathers. Having high levels of flourishing during the pandemic was predictive of higher EA for fathers, but not mothers | COVID-related stress; anxiety; depression | 4 |
Ellis et al. (2020) | Canada | Cross-sectional | April 4–16, 2020. Three weeks after secondary schools in Ontario, Canada closed due to the pandemic | N = 1054 participants ages 14–18; 76.5% Female; 65.7% White; 15.3% Asian, 3.9% Black, 3.1% Latino, 11.0% Other | Online survey; participants recruited from advertisements on Instagram | 43% of participants were “very concerned” about the pandemic; 48% spent more than 5 h daily on social media; exercise was identified as a buffering factor | Grief over missed opportunities (milestones) | 6 |
Ezpeleta et al. (2020) | Spain | Longitudinal; Survey | The first collection when kids were 12 years old was pre-COVID and second collection was post-COVID | N = 226 parents of N = 117 girls and N = 109 boys. Mean age = 13.9. Participants were recruited from an existing longitudinal study. Participants were Caucasian (92%), American-Hispanic (3.6%), and other ethnicities (3.5%) | A survey of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was administered and stepwise regression analyses were conducted. Surveys were filled out by parents on the child's behalf | A worsened mental health during the pandemic was associated with more unhealthy activities, worsened relationships with others, and a dysfunctional parenting style | Worsened interpersonal relationships; dysfunctional parenting | 8 |
Gotlib et al. (2020) | United States | Longitudinal | Pre-pandemic and during pandemic (April 2020) | N = 109, 43 males, aged 13–20 years old. Participants all from the San Francisco area | Participants were interviewed at baseline (3–6 years before the pandemic started with a modified Traumatic Events Screening Inventory for Children (TESIC), and the Perceived Stress Scale and CES-DC were also used | Monitoring the mental health of high-risk adolescents is pertinent, and stress should be targeted for intervention in vulnerable youth. Severity if ELS scores pre-pandemic predicted depression during the pandemic | Early life stressors (ELS) linked to depression | 7 |
Guo et al. (2020) | China | Review; Online Survey | February 8th–February 27th 2020 | N = 6196 adolescents aged 11–18 selected via two-stage cluster sampling method | Multivariable linear regressions were used to analyze the survey data | More pre-pandemic Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) predicted more Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) and more anxiety. Those with ACEs who were exposed COVID-19 also showed higher PTSS | Family abuse was strongest predictor of PTSS | 6 |
Netherlands | Cohort study; Online Survey | 2016–2021 | 500,000 students from ~ 1900 primary schools | Compared the two cohorts of student test scores prior to the pandemic with the cohort since the pandemic. The variables evaluated were learning growth in reading, spelling, and mathematics | Results show a marked lower learning growth between the pandemic affected cohort of the school year 2019/2020 relative to the prior cohorts in all domains | Lower learning growth in the COVID affected cohort | 7 | |
Netherlands | Observational Study | November 30th 2020–January 18th 2021 | 201,819 students in 1,178 schools | Compared the learning gain between the midterm and end-of-term test of the COVID-19 exposed cohort (2019/2020) on reading, spelling and math, to the learning gain of students from the two previous cohorts using OLS regressions | Results show large inequalities in the learning loss based on parental education and parental income, in addition to already existing inequalities | Results call for a national focus on interventions specifically targeting vulnerable students | 7 | |
Hawke et al. (2022) | Canada | Cross-sectional; survey | April 2020; during lockdown | N = 29 transgender/gender diverse, and N = 593 cisgender participants | Descriptive statistics, Fischer’s Exact Tests, and logistical regression analysis were applied to data leveraged from four existing cohort studies | Transgender and gender-diverse youth are more affected by mental health challenges during the pandemic compared to cisgender youth | Mental health and substance use treatment disruptions; less family member support | 8 |
Hevia et al. (2022) | Mexico | Observational Study | 2019 and 2021 | 2021 survey: 3161 students between 10- and 15-years old living in Campeche and Yucatan. 2019 survey: 2564 homes were selected in the states of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Campeche | The researchers used multistage, probabilistic, stratified cluster sampling. The sampling procedure involved four steps: the selection of clusters or primary sampling units, secondary sampling units (rural localities and primary geostatistical areas for urban areas), a random selection of blocks within the cluster, and the systematic selection of homes in the blocks | For reading, there was a learning loss for all items and at all ages and socioeconomic levels analyzed. Similar outcomes appeared for mathematics as well. Losses occurred in all items, at all ages, and at all socioeconomic levels. While there were already severe lags in fundamental learning in reading and mathematics according to the 2019 measurement, the loss that occurred after 12 months of school closures was evident, as was shown in the 2021 measurement | Educational emergency because of school closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic | 7 |
Hu and Qian (2021) | United Kingdom | Longitudinal | USOC data obtained before March 2020 and in June 2020; pre-pandemic to post-lockdown period | N = 886 adolescents aged 10–16 | The survey was distributed both before and during the pandemic. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to measure mental health, and nationally representative data from the Understanding Society COVID-19 were analyzed | Those with above-average mental health pre-pandemic experienced an increase in emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and a decrease in pro-social tendencies during the pandemic. Those with below-average mental health pre-pandemic experienced opposing changes to the above-average group during the pandemic | Negative mental health impact; smaller increase in emotional problems in males | 8 |
Hussong et al. (2021) | United States | Longitudinal; self-report survey | Last data collection: May–June 2020; after lockdown | N = 105 parent–child dyads; 49% boys, 81% European American, 9% Asian, 4% Black/ African American, 4% Latinx, 4% other; 87% mothers, 35% high school graduate with no college education | Parents completed surveys periodically when the child was aged 6–9, 8–12, 9–13, and 12–16 (four collection periods). Children completed self-report surveys at ages 11–16, self-efficacy, optimism, and coping were assessed | Increased mental health symptoms from before to after the pandemic outbreak when controlled for changes associated with maturation. Symptom increases were mitigated in children with more self-efficacy and were exacerbated in youth with more emotion-focused engaged and disengaged coping | Increased problematic mental health symptoms; higher self-efficacy mitigated symptomology in youth | 8 |
Kalil et al. (2020) | United States | Cross-sectional; Online Survey | 2020 | Preschool children from low-income families in Chicago who were actively participating or had participated in research studies being conducted at UChicago | Low-income parents of preschool-age children in the Chicago area were surveyed about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection began on May 3 and ended July 20, 2020. Participants were chosen from existing studies being conducted | Analysis results can help us understand the broader impact of economic and social shocks on family dynamics. Policymakers and practitioners should support low-income families who are struggling with economic/social shocks now and in the future | Economic and social shocks on families | 6 |
Kuhfeld et al. (2023) | United States | Observational Study | Fall 2019, fall 2020, and fall 2021 | 5.2 million students in grades 3–8 in approximately 12,000 U.S. public schools | Student test scores from the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth reading assessments, called RIT scores, were used. To understand how overall reading achievement in fall 2020 and fall 2021 compared to fall 2019, researchers standardized the fall 2020 and fall 2021 test scores relative to the mean and standard deviations of the fall 2019 scores separately by grade level | Achievement declines relative to the 2019 averages are larger among students enrolled in high-poverty schools and students of color. The magnitude of achievement declines differed by grade. Upper elementary classrooms are not typically resourced to teach early literacy skills, so school leaders must consider providing additional training, resources, and personnel support to equip teachers to provide differentiated and clear instructions for groups of students who continue to demonstrate difficulties | Learning loss in elementary school students | 7 |
Lerkkanen et al. (2023) | Finland | Large-scale Longitudinal First Steps Study | during lockdown; Spring 2020 | Post-pandemic group of 198 Grade 3 children compared to pre-COVID sample of 378 children across grades 1, 2, and 4 | Sample taken from longitudinal "First Steps Study" N = 2000; children were tested in academic skills, parents were administered a questionnaire, and teachers rated their students' task-avoidant behavior. Sub-sample was randomly selected from the original sample (N = 378; 48% girls) | Developmental trajectories of the COVID sample in reading comprehension did not differ from the pre-COVID sample before the pandemic. However, from Grade 2 to Grade 4, the development was slower in reading comprehension than the COVID sample. Similar evidence for learning loss was not found in math development | Learning loss in reading comprehension skills | 7 |
Liao et al. (2021) | China | Longitudinal | December 2019 and June 2020 (post-lockdown) | N = 2496 adolescents recruited from 3 junior high schools | Self-report questionnaire was administered in two waves, depressive symptoms assessed with CES-DC scale, and sleep duration, demographics and COVID-19 exposure levels were also assessed | Significant decrease in sleep duration and increase in depressive symptoms during the pandemic. Those with depressive symptoms pre-pandemic were more prone to sleep loss during the pandemic | Decreased sleep duration; depressive symptomology | 8 |
Long et al. (2022) | China | Prospective Two-Wave Study | Baseline survey: 22 September–25 October 2020; follow-up: 29 December 2020–16 January 2021 | First survey; N = 2821 surveyed 5 months after lockdown, second survey: N = 2470 (mean age 15.48 years, SD = 1.76) conducted 8 months after lockdown. Participants range in age from 12–18 | Participants completed surveys before, during and after the lockdown in order to identify risk factors | The impact of lockdown on CM was beneficial in the short-term but harmful in the long-term as the prevalence in sexual abuse rose to 2.9% from 1.6% (p = 0.002). Being male, having depression, and experiencing anhedonia or psychotic symptoms at baseline were associated with increased sexual abuse after lockdown | Significant increase in prevalence of sexual abuse after the lockdown period | 5 |
Maheux et al. (2021) | United States | Longitudinal study | October 2019, February 2020, October 2020, and January 2021 | 743 adolescents between 13 and 18 | Online survey of the group before the pandemic and after the pandemic about their character development and social media use | Results show that gratitude and the importance adolescents attribute to using social media for meaningful interactions with friends are associated over time | Gratitude may be associated with using social media to foster social connection, but not necessarily all social use | 6 |
Molnár and Hermann (2023) | Hungary | Rasch model | Pre- and post-lockdown | Approximately 80,000 students from grades 1 through 7 | Compared assessments from at least 2 times for each student, measuring math, reading, and science | 1st Graders showed greatest loss in numeracy skills; 2-7th graders showed greater loss in reading and science; those in lower SES schools also showed greater losses | Learning loss | 7 |
Oosterhoff et al. (2020) | United States | Cross-sectional; survey | Mar-20 | 683 adolescents; female (75.3%), with 77% white/Caucasian, 15.5% Hispanic/Latino, 5.6% African American, 11.1% Asian American/Pacific Islanders, 3.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 5.6% | Participants recruited through social media | Social distancing associated with higher anxiety; those who preferred to stay home reported less anxiety and depressive symptoms | Anxiety | 5 |
Ougrin et al., 2022 | 10 European Countries, 1 Asian country | Retrospective Cohort | 2019–2020 | 1795 children and adolescents; aged < 18 | EHR review | ER presentations decreased from 1239 in 2019 to 834 in 2020; proportion of subjects presenting with self-harm increased from 50% in 2019 to 57% in 2020; proportion presenting with emotional disorders increased from 58 to 66% | Self-harm; emotional disorders | 7 |
Rauschenberg et al. (2021) | Germany | Cross-sectional | Lockdown | N = 685; Age 16–25, Mean age 21.3; 52% male | Recruited through the "Mental Health and Innovation During COVID-19 Survey" panel study | Subjective experiences of social isolation, lack of company, and COVID-19-related worries and anxiety were more likely to experience psychological distress; migrant and ethnic minority groups were more likely to experience psychological distress; psychological distress and high levels of COVID-19-related cognitive preoccupation, worries, and anxiety were associated with a more positive attitude toward the use of mHealth apps | Social isolation, lack of company, worrying, anxiety impacted mental health | 7 |
Ravens-Sieberer et al. (2022) | Germany | Longitudinal study | Three waves: Wave 1 (May 2020–June 2020), Wave 2 (December 2020–January 2021), Wave 3 (September 2021–October 2021) | Parent-reported data were collected from children and adolescents ages 7–17 years, and self-report data were gathered from adolescents aged 11–17 years. N = 2097 families participated in at least one measuring point of the COPSY study | The German COVID-19 and Psychological Health (COPSY) study measured health-related quality of life and mental health. Researchers used three waves of data collection and measured factors such as sociodemographic, COVID-19 burden, quality of life, and mental health | HRQoL and mental health impairments increased in Waves 1 and 2, followed by a slight improvement in Wave 3. Internalizing problems remained high in Wave 3 while externalizing problems significantly decreased. There was no significant rise in depression levels from prepandemic to Wave 1 data, but a significant peak of depressive symptoms in Wave 2, decreasing again in Wave 3. A higher proportion of girls, and socially disadvantaged children and adolescents, reported low HRQoL, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and psychosomatic complaints both before and during the pandemic | A disproportionate amount of female and socially disadvantaged adolescents reported lower HRQoL scores; anxiety; depressive symptoms | 9 |
Ribeiro et al. (2022) | Portugal | Cross-sectional study | 2019–2020 | Sample consists of 12,576 reported requests for help made to the Portuguese Association for Victims Support (APAV) | N = 5897 help requests in 2019 (46.9%) and N = 6679 requests in 2020 (53.1%). 88.8% of the sample were Portuguese and the remaining were different nationalities. Victims age ranged from 1 month old to 98 y.o. The majority of the sample was biologically female (82.9%) | There was a 13.3% increase in help requests mainly from adolescent victims in 2020 compared to 2019, with a 100.7% increase in requests for help during the lockdown alone. Adolescents registered an increase in 28.6% more requests for help | Requests for DV-related help increased during the pandemic year | 5 |
Rodriguez et al. (2021) | United States | Cross-sectional and longitudinal study | Study 1: April 14th 2020–April 17th 2020; Study 2: Unspecified for times 1–4, T5 data obtained April 20-May 31 2020 | Study 1: 405 parents; participants had at least one child under 12 y.o. The mean age of participants was 34 y.o., with an average household income of $40,000–50,000. The majority of participants were cohabitating with a partner (80%) and most participants were white (71%) Study 2: N = 106 mothers. 60.4% of the mothers identified as white | Study 1: Online self-report survey Study 2: Following First Families (Triple-F) Study, assessments completed corresponding to baby’s age (pre-natal, 6 mos., 18 mos., an in-person session, and during the first months of the pandemic | 3% of mothers indicated they were hitting their kids more often, 33.3% indicated more yelling, and those who reported more yelling scored higher on the CTSPC Psychological aggression and BCAPI Abuse Scale. Parents that experience more loneliness also perceived a more adverse change in their parenting | The COVID-19 pandemic is undermining parenting | 6 |
Saddik et al. (2021) | United Arab Emirates | Web-based cross-sectional survey, recruited through convenient sampling | March 24th–May 15th 2020 | 2200 self-selected volunteer participants, age 18 years and over | Structured questionnaire, GAD-7, SDQ | 71% of respondents reported anxiety. Higher anxiety levels in parents = more likely to vaccinate children | Worry; fear | 6 |
Salt et al. (2021) | United States | Cross-sectional study | During lockdown | 579 encounters (469 unique patients) of abuse against adolescents age < 18, extracted from University of Kentucky’s Clinical and Translational Science bioinformatics services. Ethnicity, race, gender and age data were extracted as well | ICD-10 diagnoses encounters were obtained and separated into those that occurred before the pandemic and those that occurred during. Descriptive statistics with means and standard deviations or frequency distributions were applied to summarize variables | Incidences of physical abuse and CM were not significantly difference before and after schools closed due to COVID-19 lockdown measures. However, the incidence of child sexual abuse increased by 85% after March of 2020 | A significant increase in sexual abuse against children during the pandemic | 7 |
Saurabh et al. (2020) | India | Cross-sectional; Interview | Quarantined | 121; 9–18 years; male (85.12%) | N = 121 children and adolescents who were quarantined either at home or in a facility and remained healthy were selected and N = 131 children/adolescents not quarantined were selected from the same sample neighborhood with similar family backgrounds. Detailed interviews were given | Significant majority expressed worry (68.59%), helplessness (66.11%), and fear (61.98%) | Worry; helplessness; fear | 7 |
Schult et al. (2022) | Germany | Cohort study | 2017–2019 compared to first lockdown 2020 | N > 80,000–the study looked at mandatory tests for all 5th graders in the German federal state Baden-Württemberg | Mean competence scores computed for each cohort | Comparing results from test scores to pre-pandemic years (2017–2019), a downward trend was found after the first pandemic wave. Longer periods of school closures were associated with larger learning losses. Learning losses were larger for the group of low-achieving students and for schools with less sociocultural capital. Disadvantaged student groups are at a high risk of further substantial learning losses due to school closures | Longer periods of school closures were associated with larger learning losses | 8 |
Schuurman et al. (2021) | The Netherlands | Archival study | 8 weeks of school closure during lockdown | 886 primary school students from 13 schools from a large city in the middle of the Netherlands (approximately 350,000 inhabitants) | First conducted preliminary descriptive analyses to describe overall pattern of students' achievement growth before and after lockdown. Then estimated latent piecewise growth models using Mplus version 8.4 to examine significant discontinuity in students' learning growth | School closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to educational inequality and students may need additional support to overcome the adverse consequences of the lockdowns. Within a sample of schools serving vulnerable students, the discontinuity in learning was strongest at schools with a greater amount of disadvantaged student populations and among students from lower grades | School closures may lead to educational inequality | 8 |
Sibley et al. (2021) | United States | Cross-sectional | Lockdown | 134 subjects with ADHD; Age 13–22, Mean age 17.11; 65.7% male; 85% Latinx, 10.4% Non-White; 4.5% White | Recruited from original trial | Parents reported motivation (27.9%, social isolation (26.7%, and difficulties engaging in online learning (23.3.%). A/YAs reported social isolation (41.5%), boredom (21.3%), and difficulties engaging in online learning (20.2%) | ADHD sample reported top concerns with social isolation, boredom, and difficulties engaging in online learning | 4 |
Thorisdottir et al. (2023) | Iceland | Cross-sectional | October–November 2018 or February–March 2018, October–November 2020, February–March or October–November 2021, February–March 2–22 | 13–18 year olds enrolled in school in Iceland with 64,071 responses submitted | Survey study of Icelandic children aged 13–18 years who were enrolled in school that collected data on demographic variables, depressive symptoms, mental wellbeing, substance use, parental support, and average hours of sleep per night | Elevated depressive symptoms and decreased mental well-being across girls and boys aged 13–18 years were observed and were maintained up to 2 years post-pandemic. This increase in mental health issues persisted despite the easing of social restrictions and successful vaccination campaigns | Increase in mental health problems | 8 |
Trucco et al. (2023) | United States | Cross-sectional study | Data collected in two waves, T1: Summer 2020 and T2: Fall 2020 | Adolescents in the first or second year of high school (N = 115; mean age = 14.9; 54.8% female; 86.0% White, 7.8% Black, < 1% Pacific Islander, 5.2%, and 82.6% Latinx | Online survey focused on the impact of COVID-19 experiences on adolescents | Among adolescents who reported previous emotional abuse, those who experienced less isolation during the pandemic reported the least amount of anxiety symptoms, but among the adolescents who experienced previous physical abuse, those who experienced less isolation during the pandemic reported the greatest level of depression and anxiety symptoms | Adolescents with a history of maltreatment are more likely to develop psychological disorders, and COVID-19 exacerbates that predisposition | 4 |
Tso et al. (2022) | Hong Kong | Cross-sectional study | April 2020, during lockdown | Parents of children ages 2–12 with Special Education Needs (SEN) who study at special schools or childcare centers. Parents of 417 children with SEN (mean age 6.13 years, 71.2% males) were included along with parents of 25,427 children with Typical Development (TD) (mean age 6.37 years, 49% males) were included | Online questionnaire completed by parents. Statistical analyses and Chi-squared test performed on data in R | Out of children with SEN, 23.5% experienced 1 + episode of severe physical assault during the pandemic, 80.5% experienced psychological aggression, and those who had mental disorders had an increased risk of experiencing maltreatment compared to those without mental disorders. Comparing rates of maltreatment among children with SEN before the pandemic, there was a significant increase in rates of physical assault and psychological aggression during the pandemic (59.8% vs. 71.2% p < .01, and 53.7% vs. 80.5% p < .01, respectively) | Increased risk of CM among children with SEN | 4 |
Zhou et al. (2020) | China | Cross-sectional | Not specified | N = 8079 junior and senior high school students, age 12–18; 46.5% male | An online survey administered via Wenjuanxing platform. Demographics and depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed | 7.4–37.4% prevalence of anxiety; 10.1–43.7% prevalence of depression; older adolescents reporting greater symptoms | Depression; anxiety | 8 |