University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Child Care Health Dev. 2022 Nov;48(6):1071-1080. doi: 10.1111/cch.13034. Epub 2022 Aug 2.
During COVID-19 restrictions in England in spring 2020, early years settings for young children were closed to all but a small percentage of families, social contact was limited and play areas in parks were closed. Concerns were raised about the impact of these restrictions on young children's emotional well-being. The aim of this study was to explore parents' perceptions of young children's emotional well-being during these COVID-19 restrictions.
We interviewed 20 parents of children 3-4 years due to begin school in England in September 2020. Interviews were conducted via telephone (n = 18) and video call (n = 2), audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interviews focused on childcare arrangements, children's behaviour and transition to school. A sample of transcripts were coded line by line to create a coding framework, which was subsequently applied to the remaining transcripts. Coded data were then analysed using a nurture lens to develop themes and further understanding.
Participants were predominantly mothers (n = 16), White British (n = 10) and educated to degree level (n = 13), with half the sample living in the highest deprivation quintile in England (n = 10). Five were single parents. Three themes developed from nurturing principles were identified: creating age-appropriate explanations, understanding children's behaviour and concerns about school transition. Parents reported that their children's emotional well-being was impacted and described attempts to support their young children while looking ahead to their transition to primary school.
This study is one of the first to examine in-depth perceptions of COVID-19 restrictions on young children's emotional well-being. The longer term impacts are not yet understood. Although young children may be unable to understand in detail what the virus is, they undoubtedly experience the disruption it brings to their lives. The well-being of families and children needs to be nurtured as they recover from the effects of the pandemic to allow them to thrive.
在 2020 年春季英格兰 COVID-19 限制期间，幼儿的早教场所仅对一小部分家庭开放，社交接触受到限制，公园内的游乐区也关闭了。人们担心这些限制对幼儿的情绪健康会产生影响。本研究旨在探讨父母对幼儿在 COVID-19 限制期间情绪健康的看法。
我们采访了 20 名 2020 年 9 月即将在英格兰开始上学的 3-4 岁儿童的家长。通过电话（n=18）和视频通话（n=2）进行了访谈，访谈内容主要围绕儿童保育安排、儿童行为和入学过渡。选择部分转录本逐行编码，创建编码框架，然后将该框架应用于其余的转录本。然后使用培养视角对编码数据进行分析，以开发主题和进一步了解。
参与者主要是母亲（n=16）、白种英国人（n=10）、受过大学教育（n=13），其中一半的样本居住在英格兰最贫困的五分位数（n=10）。有 3 名是单亲家长。从养育原则中确定了三个主题：提供适合年龄的解释、了解儿童的行为和对学校过渡的担忧。父母报告说，他们孩子的情绪健康受到了影响，并描述了在为孩子过渡到小学做准备的同时，尝试支持他们年幼的孩子。
这项研究是首批深入研究 COVID-19 限制对幼儿情绪健康影响的研究之一。目前尚不清楚其长期影响。虽然幼儿可能无法详细了解病毒是什么，但他们无疑会感受到它给生活带来的干扰。在从大流行的影响中恢复过来，让他们茁壮成长的过程中，需要培养家庭和儿童的福祉。
