As COVID-19 dramatically changes human social life, restrictive lockdown periods to slow the spread of the virus have been suggested to particularly affect the psychological well-being of children and their families. To capture lockdown-related effects on a large scale, the present study used an online questionnaire completed by parents of 3-10-year-olds during the most restrictive lockdown period in Germany thus far (N = 2,672). Parents reported their stress level, their child’s well-being, and their child’s problem behaviors among others. Results showed that most parents and children experienced lockdown-related stress. Concerning children, not being able to meet with friends and family members outside the household emerged as the primary challenge. Older children (7–10 years) evidenced more emotional symptoms as well as less conduct problems and hyperactivity than younger children (3–6 years). Children’s own and their parents’ stress level, the degree to which children missed other children, and children’s age all showed to be negatively related to children’s general life satisfaction. Single parenthood and being an only child were associated with higher levels of child problems. Taken together, these findings shed light on the psychological well-being of children and their families during governmental lockdown measures, as well as on relations between children’s coping and demographic background. They have implications for possible avenues for interventions, inter alia by encouraging policies that facilitate the maintenance of social relationships and focus particularly on children from single parent families, on only children as well as on families in challenging housing situations.

As COVID-19 sweeps across the globe, scientists have identified children and families as possibly particularily vulnerable populations. The present study employed a developmental framework with two measurement points (the first at the peak of the lockdown restrictions (N = 2,921), the second after restrictions had been majorly loosened (N = 890)) to provide unique insights into the relations between parental strain, child well-being, and child problem behavior. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed longitudinal effects of child well-being and problem behavior at T1 on parental strain at T2 with parent–child relationship quality as a moderator. True intraindividual change models showed that decreases in parental strain between measurement points predicted increases in child well-being and decreases in child problem behavior. Thus, the present research points to parental stress coping and child emotional adjustment as promising avenues for professionals and policy makers in their efforts to ensure child and family well-being throughout the pandemic.

The present study investigated preschoolers' multiple sociomoral considerations (equality, equity, and perpetuating inequality) in a third‐party context of social inequality. Using a resource allocation task involving one wealthy and one poor character, we examined how 3–5‐year‐old children (N = 100) allocated either necessary (must‐have) or luxury (nice‐to‐have) resources. In addition, preschoolers' emotions, reasoning, and judgments were assessed. Results indicated that preschoolers distributing more resources to wealthy than poor others displayed a decision‐making pattern distinct from preschoolers allocating equally or equitably and largely matched the numeric proportions of the inequality in their allocations. In addition, preschoolers were sensitive to the differential implications of necessary and luxury resources, thereby considering others' needs in their moral decisions. Emotions were related to reasoning, but did not mediate the relationship between judgment and behavior. These findings demonstrate novel aspects of preschoolers' multifaceted moral considerations in the context of resource inequality.

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How should one respond to ubiquitous economic inequalities? The legend Robin Hood suggests to take away from the wealthy to benefit the poor, whereas another strategy holds the opposite (Matthew effect). Here, 3‐ to 8‐year‐old children (N = 140) witnessed protagonists performing redistributions (e.g., Robin Hood, Matthew) of necessary and luxury resources between a wealthy and a poor child. Results showed that, with age, children increasingly approved of Robin Hood and increasingly disapproved of Matthew. In addition, reasoning about others’ welfare mediated the effect of age on children’s evaluation of Robin Hood, but only for necessary resources. This suggests that children regard restorative justice actions as a strategy to address social inequalities when it increases the welfare of disadvantaged agents.