COVID-19 and the Well-being of Children and Families – American Academy of Pediatrics

No one is immune to the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although the United States has >4 million confirmed cases and >144000 deaths at the time of this writing,1 COVID-19s effects on individuals and communities extend far beyond hospitalizations and mortality. Pandemics disturb individual and community well-being through direct effects of the illness and through emotional isolation, economic loss, work and school closure, and inadequate distribution of needed resources, among others.2 Previous research highlights consequences of pandemic mitigation efforts (such as quarantine) on stress, depression, fear, anger, boredom, stigma, and other negative states.3 Adults already report worse psychological well-being now as compared to before COVID-19.4 Because data suggest that children might less frequently transmit5 or become severely ill from the virus,6,7 the unique consequences that COVID-19 exerts on children risk being overlooked. Data on child and family well-being during COVID-19 are sparse, yet recent reports of increased family violence are ominous.8 Given the body of knowledge of the damaging effects of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences on

Address correspondence to Ryan J. Coller, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of WisconsinMadison, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53792. E-mail: rcoller{at}pediatrics.wisc.edu

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COVID-19 and the Well-being of Children and Families - American Academy of Pediatrics