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Potential psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on children: A scoping review of pandemics & epidemics

Context: Physical distancing and health measures, such as school closures and work-at-home mandates, implemented to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19, will likely have far-reaching impacts on children’s psychosocial health and well-being. Objective: We aimed to examine extant literature on pandemics to identify the expected impact of COVID-19 on children’s psychosocial health and secondary outcomes, including nutritional, financial and child safety outcomes. Data Sources: Articles were searched within the Medline, Global Health, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases on June 11th, 2020. Gray literature was also examined from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Fund (UNICEF) until July 24th, 2020. Study Selection: A total of 8332 articles were screened for eligibility by two independent reviewers. Of these, 7,919 and 413 articles were from academic databases and additional sources, respectively. Data Extraction: Results on child outcomes were extracted and collated. Results: Seventy-three articles met inclusion criteria. Children have faced significant challenges with 12% of total articles indicating loneliness/depression, 21% anxiety, 7% grief, 10% stress-related disorders, 25% child abuse, 8% family conflict, and 12% stigma during pandemics/epidemics. Furthermore, 25% of articles indicated economic challenges, 23% negative academic impacts, 33% improper nutrition, and 21% reduced opportunities for play/increased screen time. These challenges were exacerbated among children who were female, having a disability, or being a migrant/displaced child. Conclusion: Pandemics and epidemics have had diverse and widespread negative consequences for children. Findings can inform the development and implementation of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect child health and well-being.