A study late last week in JAMA Network Open reveals a small link between COVID-19–related school closures and worse child mental health, particularly among older and Black and Hispanic students and those from low-income families.University of Washington at Seattle researchers led the study, which involved an online and phone survey of 2,324 US adults 18 to 64 years old with at least one child aged 4 to 17 years from Dec 2 to 21, 2020.
Parent participants, randomly selected from the AmeriSpeak panel (developed by NORC at the University of Chicago), reported child emotional, peer, conduct, and hyperactivity problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.Of the 2,323 adults who completed the survey, 71.9% were women, 16.0% were