Peer-reviewed article
Child well‐being before and after the 2020 COVID ‐19 lockdowns in three Australian states
Jacqueline B. H. Allen, Ross J. Homel, Tara Renae McGee, Kate Freiberg ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study measured the social-emotional well-being of 6 to 12-year-old children in three Australian states before and after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. Children tested during lockdowns reported significantly lower perceived family support compared to children tested before the pandemic, with stronger declines for girls. Boys showed better behavioural conformity and emotional well-being than girls during lockdowns. The findings suggest that pandemic restrictions affected children's sense of family support differently by gender and by baseline well-being levels.
Key points
- Children tested during 2020-2021 lockdowns reported significantly lower family support than children tested before the pandemic
- The reduction in perceived family support was stronger for girls than boys
- Children who already had lower family support at baseline experienced steeper declines during lockdowns
- Boys reported significantly better behavioural conformity and emotional well-being than girls during the lockdown period
- Well-being was assessed through a video game tool that allowed children to self-report on school attachment, social-emotional well-being, behavioural conformity and family support
Limitations
This study uses a non-randomised comparison group and cannot establish whether changes were caused by lockdowns specifically or other pandemic-related factors. The design is quasi-experimental and relies on self-reported well-being measures, which may be influenced by children's ability to articulate their experiences.
Abstract
Abstract This paper reports on changes in the social‐emotional well‐being of 6‐ to 12‐year‐old children tested before the COVID‐19 pandemic and during 2020 and 2021. Well‐being was assessed using a video game that empowers children to report their own well‐being, including school attachment, social and emotional well‐being, behavioural conformity and family support. We compared well‐being over time for two groups of children in government schools in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. The treatment group of 580 children were tested in 2019 (Time 1) and a second time in mid‐late 2020 and early 2021 (Time 2). The comparison group of 841 children were tested twice before the pandemic. Results showed that children in the treatment group reported significantly lower family support at Time 2 than those in the comparison group. This reduction in perceived family support was stronger for girls. In addition, children in the treatment group who reported lower levels of family support at Time 1 reported a steeper decline in family support by Time 2. Finally, boys in the treatment group reported significantly better behavioural conformity and emotional well‐being relative to girls over time. Results highlight the varied impacts of the pandemic lockdowns and the need to provide continued support to vulnerable families.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Exposure to 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in Australian schools (natural experiment)
- Population
- 6 to 12-year-old children in government schools in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania; treatment group n=580, comparison group n=841
Key finding
Children in treatment group reported significantly lower family support at Time 2 compared to comparison group