Peer-reviewed article
School Closures and Child Well‐Being: Cross‐National Comparison Between Four European Countries During the COVID ‐19 Pandemic
Mari Bergsjordet, Kjærsti Thorsteinsen, Elizabeth J. Parks‐Stamm, Kornelia van Ingen, Sarah E. Martiny ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study compared child well-being in four European countries during spring 2020 (lockdown with school closures) and fall 2020 (loosened restrictions) to understand the impact of school closures on children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers surveyed 423 parents about their own well-being and their children's well-being across Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden. Children's well-being improved from spring to fall 2020, but only in countries that had closed schools in spring. The study also found that parental and child well-being were similarly linked at both time points.
Key points
- Children's well-being was higher in fall 2020 than in spring 2020 only in countries with school closures in spring 2020
- The study included 423 parents across four European countries (Germany, UK, Norway, Sweden)
- Parental and child well-being were similarly interrelated at both spring and fall 2020 time points
- The findings suggest that policies such as school closures can have measurable impacts on child well-being
- The study used a quasi-experimental design comparing countries with and without school closures
Limitations
The study relies on parent-reported measures of child well-being rather than direct assessment of children. Definitive causal conclusions cannot be drawn from this quasi-experimental design, and the cross-national comparison may be confounded by other contextual or policy differences between countries.
Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective We examined whether school closures were negatively related to child well‐being during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Europe. We did so by comparing child well‐being in spring (i.e., lockdown) and fall 2020 (i.e., period of loosened restrictions) in European countries with and without school closures. In addition, we explored interrelations between parental and child well‐being. Background To protect the mental health of children in future global crises, it is important to understand the relationship between COVID‐19 restrictions such as school closures and both the well‐being of children and family dynamics. Methods We conducted a cross‐national online study with parents ( N = 423) from Germany ( n = 97), the United Kingdom ( n = 96), Norway ( n = 125), and Sweden ( n = 105). We assessed parents' well‐being (47% male, M age = 40.71, SD age = 8.37) and children's well‐being (54% boys, M age = 9.65, SD age = 2.32) as reported by their parents for spring and fall 2020. Results Findings indicate that children's well‐being was higher in fall than in spring 2020, but only in countries with school closures in spring 2020. Further, the well‐being of children and parents was similarly interrelated at both times. Conclusion The findings highlight the impact policies can have on child well‐being, although definitive conclusions about causality cannot be made given the study's quasi‐experimental design. Implications Potential impacts of policies on child well‐being need to be considered when developing interventions in future crises.