Psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Identifying mental health problems and supporting wellbeing in vulnerable children and families

迫切需要了解和减轻新冠肺炎大流行和相关封锁对小学生的心理和社会影响。这对那些已知易受攻击的人尤其重要。有情感、认知、发展和社交弱点的儿童在小学就已经被发现了。对于这一高危群体来说，学校关闭、社会孤立、经济和情感压力增加以及更多地暴露在家庭冲突中的心理健康后果可能特别明显。需要来自大流行前的数据，才能对新冠肺炎对弱势儿童的影响提供强有力的评估。这项拟议的研究基于一项正在进行的研究，该研究对300名小学生(4-7岁)进行了研究，这些儿童被教师认定为精神健康问题的“高危”儿童。我们的研究收集了新冠肺炎大流行之前丰富的社交、认知和心理健康数据。我们的目标是在疫情期间和本学年晚些时候远程重新评估这群现在5至10岁的人群，以评估新冠肺炎的社会和情感影响，并确定如何减轻负面后果。我们还将能够评估较长期的影响，因为这群人同意将终身健康、社会护理和教育记录联系起来。了解弱势儿童和家庭的直接心理和社会后果不仅对研究很重要，而且对于迅速制定政策和干预措施以缓解精神健康问题并在封锁期间和之后向家庭提供支助也是至关重要的。

There is an urgent need to understand and mitigate the psychological and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown on primary school children. This is especially important for those known to be vulnerable. Children with emotional, cognitive, developmental and social vulnerabilities can already be identified in primary schools. The mental health consequences of school closure, social isolation, increased financial and emotional stress, and greater exposure to family conflict are likely to be particularly pronounced for this high-risk group. Data from immediately prior to the pandemic are needed to provide robust assessments of the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable children. This proposed study capitalises on an ongoing study of 300 primary school children (4-7 years) identified as "at-risk" for mental health problems by teachers. Our study collected rich social, cognitive and mental health data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aim is to re-assess this cohort, now aged 5 to 10 years, remotely, during the pandemic and again later in the academic year to evaluate the social and emotional impacts of COVID-19 and identify how negative consequences can be mitigated. We will also be able to assess longer term impacts because this cohort has consented to life-long health, social care and education record linkage. Understanding the immediate psychological and social consequences for vulnerable children and families is not only important for research; it is essential for rapid development of policies and interventions to mitigate the mental health problems and provide support to families during and after lockdown.