Please note this is a preprint, so it is a preliminary piece of research that has not yet been through peer review and has not been published in a scientific journal – so this is early data.
Whilst the rise in emotional problems in teenagers and young adults since the pandemic has become clearer, little is known about the emotional response of pre-school and primary school aged children. Using data tracking children's emotional development at multiple ages before and during the pandemic, the research team were able to explore differences in trajectories of emotional difficulties in children before and during the pandemic. The study is published on the pre-print server medRxiv.org.
The researchers looked at data from 708 children who are part of the third generation of the health study Children of the 90s, based at the University of Bristol (also known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children). Due to the unique nature of the study, which first recruited pregnant women in the Avon area between 1991–92, researchers were able to compare data collected pre-pandemic with the data collected through a questionnaire conducted from 26 May and 5 July 2020, which focussed on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as restrictions were eased.
This work was supported by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, University of Bristol and the European Research Council.