Child well-being before and after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in three Australian states

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Allen, Jacqueline BH
Homel, Ross J
McGee, Tara R
Freiberg, Kate J
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2023
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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.

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Australian Journal of Social Issues

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58

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1

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© 2023 The Authors. Australian Journal of Social Issues published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Social Policy Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Human society

Social Sciences

Social Issues

children

COVID-19 lockdowns

family support

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Allen, JBH; Homel, RJ; McGee, TR; Freiberg, KJ, Child well-being before and after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in three Australian states, Australian Journal of Social Issues, 2023, 58 (1), pp. 41-69

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