Vulnerabilities in child wellbeing among primary school children: a cross-sectional study in Bradford, UK

Abstract

ObjectiveTo describe the prevalence of factors related to wellbeing among primary school children in a deprived multi-ethnic community.Design and participantsCross-sectional survey of 15,641 children aged 7-10 years in Born in Bradford’s Primary School Years study: whole-classroom samples in 89 Bradford primary schools between 2016 and 2019.Main outcome measuresPrevalence estimates by ethnicity (%, 95% CI) of single and multiple vulnerabilities in child wellbeing within and across four domains (home, family, relationships; material resources; friends and school; subjective wellbeing).ResultsOnly 10% of children have no vulnerabilities in any domain of wellbeing; 10% have one or more vulnerabilities in all four domains. The highest prevalence estimates were for being bullied some or all of the time (52.7%, 51.9 to 53.4%), keeping worries to oneself (31.2%, 30.5 to 31.9%), having no park near home (30.8%, 30.1 to 31.5%) and worrying all the time about how much money their family has (26.3%, 25.6 to 27%).Boys were consistently significantly more likely than girls to report all of the vulnerabilities in the Home, Family and Family Relationships domain, and the majority of indicators in the other domains, and in all domains except Friends and School, boys were significantly more likely to have at least one vulnerability. Girls were significantly more likely to report not having many friends (16.7%, 95% CI: 15.9 to 17.6% vs. 12.5%, 95% CI: 11.8 to 13.2%), being bullied some or all of the time (55.8%, 95% CI: 54.7 to 56.9% vs. 49.7%, 95% CI: 48.6 to 50.8%) and feeling left out all the time (12.1%, 95% CI: 11.4 to 12.8%) vs. 10.3%, 95% CI: 9.7 to 11.0%).Variations in vulnerabilities by ethnicity were complex, with children in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups sometimes reporting more vulnerabilities and sometimes fewer than White British children. For example, compared to children of Pakistani heritage, White British children were more likely to say that their family never gets along well (6.3%,5.6 to 7.1% vs. 4.1%,3.6 to 4.6%) and to have no access to the internet at home (22.3%,21 to 23.6% vs. 18%,17 to 18.9%). Children with Pakistani heritage were more likely than White British children to say they had no park near their home where they can play with friends (32.7%,31.6 to 33.9% vs. 29.9%,28.6 to 31.3%), to report not having three meals a day (17.9%,16.9 to 18.8% vs. 11.9%,10.9 to 12.9%) and to worry all the time about how much money their families have (29.3%,28.2 to 30.3%) vs. 21.6%,20.4 to 22.9%). Gypsy/Irish Traveller children were less likely than White British children to say they were bullied some or all of the time (42.2%,35.4 to 49.4% vs. 53.8%,52.3 to 55.3%), but more likely to say they were mean to others all the time (9.9%,6.3 to 15.2% vs. 4%,3.5 to 4.7%) and can never work out what to do when things are hard (15.2%,10.6 to 21.2% vs. 9%, 8.2 to 9.9%).We considered six vulnerabilities to be of particular concern during the current Covid-19 pandemic and associated national and local lockdowns: family never gets along well together; no garden where child can play; no nearby park where they can play; not having 3 meals a day; no internet at home; worried about money all the time. Pre-pandemic, 37.4% (36.6 to 38.3%) of Bradford children had one of these vulnerabilities and a further 29.6% (28.9 to 30.4%) had more than one.ConclusionsAlthough most primary school children aged 7-10 in our study have good levels of wellbeing on most indicators across multiple domains, fewer than 10% have no vulnerabilities at all, a worrying 10% have at least one vulnerability in all the four domains we studied and two thirds have vulnerabilities of concern during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Can we better understand severe mental illness through the lens of Syndemics?

“…Experiencing social stigma can lead to psychological stress in the individual, and evidence for a link between both positive and negative social relationships and mental health status has been published (16). Substantial evidence shows that caregivers of children with developmental disabilities are more susceptible to developing anxiety, depression, and a range of physical symptoms and illnesses (33). High levels of stress were found to be a likely mediator in this Syndemic model (34).…”

Changes in children’s wellbeing in Bradford during COVID-19: The Born in Bradford COVID-19 longitudinal research study

“…Two recent studies had collected data on the BiB children and their families prior to the pandemic: BiB Growing Up (BiBGU), which collected data from BiB cohort families in community-based assessments between 2017–2020, and BiB Primary School Years (PSY), which collected data from children aged 6–11 in school-based assessments between 2016–2019 (see Bird et al , 2019 ). At the time that the BiB COVID-19 study took place, 5,300 children had participated in BiBGU and, 15,641 children from 89 primary schools participated in PSY, of whom 6,147 were BiB children ( Pickett et al , 2021 ).…”

“…Ethical approval was obtained from the National Health Service Health Research Authority Yorkshire and the Humber (Bradford Leeds) Research Ethics Committee (reference: 16/YH/0062). Children self-completed a survey (“Me and My Life”), developed using questions derived from the Millennium Cohort Study, the International Survey of Children’s Wellbeing and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children ( Pickett et al , 2021 ). Amongst these questions, children provided information on self-reported wellbeing by being asked how often they felt happy and sad with potential response categories: always, sometimes, never.…”

Born in Bradford’s Age of Wonder cohort: protocol for adolescent data collection

“…This critical period involves rapid biological, psychological and social development, and is a high risk period for the onset of mental ill-health ( Blakemore, 2019 ; Paus et al , 2008 ). Indeed, data collected on BiB children during primary school found that more than half of the 16,000 children who took part reported being bullied some or all of the time, a third said they kept their worries to themselves and a quarter worried all the time about how much money their families have ( Pickett et al , 2021 ). All three are key experiences of socioeconomic contexts that are highly relevant to mental health across the life-course.…”