Adolescents at risk of mental health problems in the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective population-based study of the effects of government mandates and school closures

There is increasing evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has had substantial mental health impacts for adolescents. Yet, few definitive studies have investigated which adolescents were at higher risk of poor mental health and well-being during the pandemic. Data were drawn from the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study, a prospective cohort study of students in Australia (N = 1211). Prevalence of mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, self-harm and good subjective well-being) was estimated in school Years 5–12, where Years 11 (2020) and 12 (2021) coincided with the pandemic. The age- and sex-adjusted relative risk of each mental health outcome for each priority group during the pandemic were estimated. During the pandemic, over 50% of study participants reported depressive symptoms, and one quarter reported anxiety symptoms. There was a decrease in good subjective well-being compared with pre-pandemic years, while self-harm prevalence remained similar. History of mental health problems, school disengagement and frequent peer victimisation increased the risk of experiencing mental health problems during the pandemic. Schools play a central role in maintaining the mental health and good subjective well-being of students, and this is particularly important during periods of social disruption, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Bear in a Window: Australian children's perspectives on lockdown and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper examines the reflections of a cohort of Australian children who lived through the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic and experienced being in ‘lockdown’; a state of largely being confined to the home for long periods daily. We report how children reflect on their experiences and illustrate how reflections draw on similar topics focused on localised child concerns regarding health, education, family, digital engagement, mealtimes and food. Further, we argue for the importance of including children's own voices of lived experience in reports regarding life during the pandemic since these perspectives may differ from those reported by adults on children's behalf.     

‘COVID taught me…’: Examining child-radio productions in the COVID-19 pandemic

Framed by critical literacies, the author adapted ethnographic methods to virtual spaces to examine radio as an alternative way to enhance adult understanding of children's COVID-19 experiences. Drawing on a subset of child-produced radio segments from March 2021, she foregrounds how children in an extracurricular program strategically used radio to share their pandemic experiences with their community. Supplemented by 5 months of virtual observations, she identified how child-DJs used radio to share how—through the COVID-19 pandemic—they cared about and for their community. Ultimately, she argues radio is one tool for coming to know children as community change agents.     

1918年大流感在华传播路径、范围和程度新探

中国是1918年大流感的主要受灾国，但史学界对中国疫情的研究非常薄弱。既有关于中国疫情的研究，所依据资料均较单一，不能反映疫情全貌，且存在明显误判。故需要结合当时中外报道、医官报告、海关史料、日记、地方志等材料，重建疫情在华传播图景。整体上，中国经历春秋季两波流感疫情，其传播路径主要依赖铁路、航道和驿道系统，京津、沪汉等重要城市是疫情向全国扩散的中心，而其他交通沿线的主要城市则是疫情在本区域内的扩散中心。其中，第一波疫情自北向南扩散，通过南满、京奉、京汉和沪宁等铁路线迅速传播，将疫区由点串成线，同时借由内河航道和驿道将疫区由线而织成网。幸运的是，第一波疫情并未波及重庆以西地区，且程度较轻，死亡率较低，惟因症状"新""奇"而备受舆论关注。相较之下，第二波疫情则自南向北传播，疫情范围远超第一波，甚至深入云南、甘肃和新疆等内陆省份；同时，第二波疫情的疫势亦明显较第一波严重，各省均有大量死亡病例报道，且呈现乡村疫势远甚于城市的特点，两者粗死亡率相差近十倍之巨。整体上，第二波疫情导致全国死亡人数的保守估算至少在360万至450万之间。值得注意的是，考察1918年两波流感疫情在华传播亦需考虑到各种国内外因素的实际影响。事实上，此类变动的因素极大地加剧了疫情在华传播的复杂性。在国际因素上，俄国革命与黑龙江、新疆等省份的疫情传播关系密切，日本远征军的军事调动则是东三省疫情传播的关键因素，而中越、中缅间的跨国贸易网络则是云南疫情的主要源头；在国内因素上，南北交战和山东匪患加剧了政局不稳和社会动荡，并大大提升了湖南、湖北、陕西和山东等省的人口流动频率，从而增加了疫情传播的速度和范围。文章深入挖掘和全面梳理了1918年中国流感疫情的各类中外史料，详细地考辨了两波流感疫情在华传播的具体路径和范围，重估疫情严重程度，并着重考察各种变动的国内外因素对疫情在华传播的复杂影响，进而勾勒出一幅较为完整的1918年流感疫情在华传播图景。通过文章的梳理和考辨，希望能为1918年大流感的全球性比较和中国国内的区域性研究提供扎实可靠的基础。     

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on birth satisfaction in a prospective cohort of 2,341 U.S. women

ProblemBirth satisfaction is an important health outcome that is related to postpartum mood, infant caretaking, and future pregnancy intention.BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected antenatal care and intrapartum practices that may reduce birth satisfaction.AimTo investigate the extent to which pandemic-related factors predicted lower birth satisfaction.Methods2341 women who were recruited prenatally in April–May 2020 and reported a live birth between April–October 2020 were included in the current analysis. Hierarchical linear regression to predict birth satisfaction from well-established predictors of birth satisfaction (step 1) and from pandemic-related factors (step 2) was conducted. Additionally, the indirect associations of pandemic-related stress with birth satisfaction were investigated.FindingsThe first step of the regression explained 35% of variance in birth satisfaction. In the second step, pandemic-related factors explained an additional 3% of variance in birth satisfaction. Maternal stress about feeling unprepared for birth due to the pandemic and restrictions on companions during birth independently predicted lower birth satisfaction beyond the non-pandemic variables. Pandemic-related unpreparedness stress was associated with more medicalized birth and greater incongruence with birth preference, thus also indirectly influencing birth satisfaction through a mediation process.DiscussionWell-established contributors to birth satisfaction remained potent during the pandemic. In addition, maternal stress and restriction on accompaniment to birth were associated with a small but significant reduction in birth satisfaction.ConclusionStudy findings suggest that helping women set flexible and reasonable expectations for birth and allowing at least one intrapartum support person can improve birth satisfaction.     

A personal reflection of risking and protecting lives during the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic

In this paper, I engage with my personal experiences and reflections regarding my fear of exposure to coronavirus in a collective and physically demonstrative society. I reflect on my ongoing struggle of coping with social and cultural pressures, for example, the avoidance of ‘touch’ that demonstrates care and affection irrespective of whether someone is ill with the virus. Developed during the third wave of the pandemic, this paper reveals the ambivalence and the emotional challenges involved therein as I tried to (re)negotiate social interactions. It reflects the resistance and denial of the people that coronavirus even exists as they tried to justify their illness by linking it with other known diseases. Hence, the majority disapproved of social distancing to avoid stigmatization and being distanced from others. I believe that expressions of ‘care’ and ‘affection’ requires reconsideration in such circumstances as an act of care itself to protect lives.     

The human life vs economic loss dilemma: Relation between death rate and the output rate in Europe during the Covid 19 pandemic

I analyze the human life-economic loss dilemma (HELD) trade-off between saving lives ad saving economic activities during the emergency period of Covid 19 pandemic. A new concept labeled HELD Curve, not addressed in the literature so far, is proposed to model the inverse non-linear relation between loss of economic activity and death rates during the Covid 19 Pandemic in Europe, due to the lockdown policy. Econometric estimation supports this view offering to policymakers a tool to assess the impact of continuing the lockdown. The HELD curve elasticity implies a trade-off of 218 thousand EURO per saved human life.     

On not ‘being there’: Making sense of the potent urge for physical proximity in transnational families at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper investigates transnational families’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the accompanying sudden and unexpected travel restrictions. Our data consist of written stories collected in April–June 2020 from migrants with ageing kin living in another country. For many respondents, the situation provoked an acutely felt urge for physical proximity with their families. By analysing their experiences of ‘not being there’, we seek to understand what exactly made the urge to ‘be there’ so forceful. Bringing into dialogue literature on transnational families with Jennifer Mason's recent theoretical work on affinities, we move the focus from families’ transnational caregiving practices to the potent connections between family members. We argue that this approach can open important avenues for future research on families—transnational or otherwise—because it sheds light on the multisensory and often ineffable charges between family members that serve to connect them.     

COVID-19: Impact on children living in out-of-home care and their carers

Children enter out-of-home care (OOHC) having experienced significant childhood adversities and trauma. Little is known about the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on this vulnerable group. To gain some insights, we analysed the early impacts on the well-being and experiences of children in OOHC and their carers using the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study data prior to and post the first lockdown restrictions. A total of 862 children, young people and their carers were interviewed either pre-COVID-19 restrictions (n = 567) (April 2019–March 2020) or post-COVID-19 restrictions (n = 295) (June–December 2020). While the two groups showed no significant differences in socio-emotional well-being, both the pre- and the post-COVID-19 restriction groups of children in OOHC had slight reductions in socio-emotional well-being. The interviews with the post-COVID-19 group showed that the pandemic restrictions affected children's well-being and behaviour, education, social and physical activities, as well as time spent with their birth family. Likewise, interviews with carers post-COVID-19 found a negative effect on carers' well-being, their ability to manage financially and their capacity to care and access services and support. The article contributes new evidence to inform OOHC policy and practice to support service systems facing unique challenges arising from a pandemic.     

The COVID-19 pandemic,mask-wearing,and emotion recognition during late-childhood

Face masks are an effective and important tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including among children. However, occluding parts of the face can impact emotion recognition, which is fundamental to effective social interactions. Social distancing, stress, and changes to routines because of the pandemic have also altered the social landscape of children, with implications for social development. To better understand how social input and context impact emotion recognition, the current study investigated emotion recognition in children (7–12 years old, N = 131) using images of both masked and unmasked emotional faces. We also assessed a subsample of participants (“pre-pandemic subsample,” n = 35) who had completed the same emotion recognition task with unmasked faces before and during the pandemic. Masking of faces was related to worse emotion recognition, with more pronounced effects for happy, sad, and fearful faces than angry and neutral faces. Masking was more strongly related to emotion recognition among children whose families reported greater social disruption in response to the pandemic. Finally, in the pre-pandemic subsample, emotion recognition of sad faces was lower during versus before the pandemic relative to other emotions. Together, findings show that occluding face parts and the broader social context (i.e., global pandemic) both impact emotion-relevant judgments in school-aged children.