Family violence against children in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: a review of current perspectives and risk factors

Abstract

The situation of crisis produced by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses major challenges to societies all over the world. While efforts to contain the virus are vital to protect global health, these same efforts are exposing children and adolescents to an increased risk of family violence. Various criminological theories explain the causes of this new danger. The social isolation required by the measures taken in the different countries, the impact on jobs, the economic instability, high levels of tension and fear of the virus, and new forms of relationships have all increased levels of stress in the most vulnerable families and, therefore, the risk of violence. In addition, mandatory lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of the disease have trapped children in their homes, isolating them from the people and the resources that could help them. In general, the restrictive measures imposed in many countries have not been accompanied by an analysis of the access to the resources needed to reduce this risk. It is necessary to take urgent measures to intervene in these high-risk contexts so that children and adolescents can develop and prosper in a society which is likely to undergo profound changes, but in which the defense of their rights and protection must remain a major priority.

Academic performance of K-12 students in an online-learning environment for mathematics increased during the shutdown of schools in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Results from this study stand in contrast to earlier findings showing mostly detrimental effects of school closures on student's performance and wellbeing [3,5,[7][8][9]13,18]. Yet, the present study is not the first to demonstrate that students' performance can improve during the shutdown of schools in 2020.…”

“…The shutdown of schools in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic required students to be educated from home which has been linked to lower performance on national tests [3], higher stress and anxiety [7,9], lower sleep quality [8], as well as a general decrease in student's wellbeing [5,6,13]. In this study, we examined the impact of the school closures on the performance of K12 students in an online learning environment for mathematics-building on a large dataset compromising over 30,000 K-12 students and over 800,000 computed problem sets-by contrasting students' performance before the shutdown against their performance during the shutdown.…”

“…Reduced study time has been linked to significant decreases in curriculum-based learning for children, adolescents, and young adults, as families report to struggle with educating their children at home [10]. Finally, more time spent at home led students who relied on regular meals at school to suffer from hunger [5], and has been linked to increased rates of child abuse [6,13].…”

Determinants of Behavioral Changes Since COVID-19 among Middle School Students

“…The specific protective behavior changes include reduced outdoor time with friends and increased time at home due to social distancing. If people have negative family situations, spending more time together at home due to COVID-19-related policies may lead to conflict and other negative outcomes [ 36 ]. On the other hand, middle school students who have good relationships with their family members may be more accepting of spending more time at home.…”

Looking beyond COVID-19

“…All OECD countries provide pregnant women and parents of new-born babies and small children some kind of supports with regards to health care, income, and most countries also provide leave entitlements and childcare supports to help parents reconcile work and caring commitments. However, the perspective of the First 1000 Days would add several dimensions to this policy mix by putting an emphasis on (Pentecost and Ross, 2019 [26]; Moore, 2018 [24]; Cyrulnik, 2020 [27]):…”