| dc.description.abstract | The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent restrictions on families in England interrupted children’s typical social activities. The requirement to stay at home issued by the government (Prime Minister’s Office, 2020a) in Spring 2020 meant that children’s access to social interactions in settings such as schools, clubs, parks, neighbours’ gardens, family member’s homes was affected. In this research, my aim was to explore the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on children’s social lives. I focused on children in middle childhood (defined here as 7-11) owing to the significant role of friendships and peer interaction for children in this age range (Maunder & Monks, 2019). In both phases of the research, the focus was on children’s experiences prior to the full school reopening in September 2020.
In phase one, I sought to understand any changes in children’s social interactions and play during the COVID-19 restrictions and factors associated with changes. Data collected in phase one included questionnaire responses from 68 caregivers and 63 children, in addition to interviews with seven caregivers. In phase two, I interviewed seven children to gather their perceptions of any changes to their social interactions and play during COVID-19 restrictions.
For analysis, I examined questionnaire data separately for caregivers and children using both descriptive and inferential statistics. I then also analysed a linked sample of questionnaire responses where both caregiver and child had completed the survey (n = 80; 40 paired responses). To analyse interview data, I used reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) to understand participant’s experiences and perspectives.
The findings of this research illustrate the many ways in which children’s social interactions with household and non-household members had changed during the COVID-19 restrictions. Findings discussed include changes to children’s: time spent with others; mediums of interaction and digital media use; quality of relationships with others; and experiences of social wellbeing. The findings also document some factors associated with changes to children’s social interactions including factors associated with the caregiver (e.g. working commitments or self-efficacy), factors associated with familial context (e.g. space within the home) and factors associated with the child (e.g. gender or additional needs). Results highlight the ways in which participants both positively and negatively appraised changes to social interactions.
The findings from questionnaire and interview responses are presented separately in chapters four to seven and are then followed by an overall discussion in chapter eight. In chapter eight, I bring together findings from the quantitative and qualitative results into four key areas which are: Positive aspects of changes to children’s social interactions; increased use of digital media for social interactions; the impact of caregiver self-efficacy on children’s social interactions; and the impact of caregivers’ working patterns on children’s social interactions.
I end by considering limitations to this research and outlining areas where these findings could be applicable beyond the COVID-19 pandemic for practice, policy, and future research. | en_GB |
