essay about family during pandemic

Read these 12 moving essays about life during coronavirus

Artists, novelists, critics, and essayists are writing the first draft of history.

by Alissa Wilkinson

The world is grappling with an invisible, deadly enemy, trying to understand how to live with the threat posed by a virus . For some writers, the only way forward is to put pen to paper, trying to conceptualize and document what it feels like to continue living as countries are under lockdown and regular life seems to have ground to a halt.

So as the coronavirus pandemic has stretched around the world, it’s sparked a crop of diary entries and essays that describe how life has changed. Novelists, critics, artists, and journalists have put words to the feelings many are experiencing. The result is a first draft of how we’ll someday remember this time, filled with uncertainty and pain and fear as well as small moments of hope and humanity.

• The Vox guide to navigating the coronavirus crisis

At the New York Review of Books, Ali Bhutto writes that in Karachi, Pakistan, the government-imposed curfew due to the virus is “eerily reminiscent of past military clampdowns”:

Beneath the quiet calm lies a sense that society has been unhinged and that the usual rules no longer apply. Small groups of pedestrians look on from the shadows, like an audience watching a spectacle slowly unfolding. People pause on street corners and in the shade of trees, under the watchful gaze of the paramilitary forces and the police.

His essay concludes with the sobering note that “in the minds of many, Covid-19 is just another life-threatening hazard in a city that stumbles from one crisis to another.”

Writing from Chattanooga, novelist Jamie Quatro documents the mixed ways her neighbors have been responding to the threat, and the frustration of conflicting direction, or no direction at all, from local, state, and federal leaders:

Whiplash, trying to keep up with who’s ordering what. We’re already experiencing enough chaos without this back-and-forth. Why didn’t the federal government issue a nationwide shelter-in-place at the get-go, the way other countries did? What happens when one state’s shelter-in-place ends, while others continue? Do states still under quarantine close their borders? We are still one nation, not fifty individual countries. Right?

• A syllabus for the end of the world

Award-winning photojournalist Alessio Mamo, quarantined with his partner Marta in Sicily after she tested positive for the virus, accompanies his photographs in the Guardian of their confinement with a reflection on being confined :

The doctors asked me to take a second test, but again I tested negative. Perhaps I’m immune? The days dragged on in my apartment, in black and white, like my photos. Sometimes we tried to smile, imagining that I was asymptomatic, because I was the virus. Our smiles seemed to bring good news. My mother left hospital, but I won’t be able to see her for weeks. Marta started breathing well again, and so did I. I would have liked to photograph my country in the midst of this emergency, the battles that the doctors wage on the frontline, the hospitals pushed to their limits, Italy on its knees fighting an invisible enemy. That enemy, a day in March, knocked on my door instead.

In the New York Times Magazine, deputy editor Jessica Lustig writes with devastating clarity about her family’s life in Brooklyn while her husband battled the virus, weeks before most people began taking the threat seriously:

At the door of the clinic, we stand looking out at two older women chatting outside the doorway, oblivious. Do I wave them away? Call out that they should get far away, go home, wash their hands, stay inside? Instead we just stand there, awkwardly, until they move on. Only then do we step outside to begin the long three-block walk home. I point out the early magnolia, the forsythia. T says he is cold. The untrimmed hairs on his neck, under his beard, are white. The few people walking past us on the sidewalk don’t know that we are visitors from the future. A vision, a premonition, a walking visitation. This will be them: Either T, in the mask, or — if they’re lucky — me, tending to him.

Essayist Leslie Jamison writes in the New York Review of Books about being shut away alone in her New York City apartment with her 2-year-old daughter since she became sick:

The virus. Its sinewy, intimate name. What does it feel like in my body today? Shivering under blankets. A hot itch behind the eyes. Three sweatshirts in the middle of the day. My daughter trying to pull another blanket over my body with her tiny arms. An ache in the muscles that somehow makes it hard to lie still. This loss of taste has become a kind of sensory quarantine. It’s as if the quarantine keeps inching closer and closer to my insides. First I lost the touch of other bodies; then I lost the air; now I’ve lost the taste of bananas. Nothing about any of these losses is particularly unique. I’ve made a schedule so I won’t go insane with the toddler. Five days ago, I wrote Walk/Adventure! on it, next to a cut-out illustration of a tiger—as if we’d see tigers on our walks. It was good to keep possibility alive.

At Literary Hub, novelist Heidi Pitlor writes about the elastic nature of time during her family’s quarantine in Massachusetts:

During a shutdown, the things that mark our days—commuting to work, sending our kids to school, having a drink with friends—vanish and time takes on a flat, seamless quality. Without some self-imposed structure, it’s easy to feel a little untethered. A friend recently posted on Facebook: “For those who have lost track, today is Blursday the fortyteenth of Maprilay.” ... Giving shape to time is especially important now, when the future is so shapeless. We do not know whether the virus will continue to rage for weeks or months or, lord help us, on and off for years. We do not know when we will feel safe again. And so many of us, minus those who are gifted at compartmentalization or denial, remain largely captive to fear. We may stay this way if we do not create at least the illusion of movement in our lives, our long days spent with ourselves or partners or families.

• What day is it today?

Novelist Lauren Groff writes at the New York Review of Books about trying to escape the prison of her fears while sequestered at home in Gainesville, Florida:

Some people have imaginations sparked only by what they can see; I blame this blinkered empiricism for the parks overwhelmed with people, the bars, until a few nights ago, thickly thronged. My imagination is the opposite. I fear everything invisible to me. From the enclosure of my house, I am afraid of the suffering that isn’t present before me, the people running out of money and food or drowning in the fluid in their lungs, the deaths of health-care workers now growing ill while performing their duties. I fear the federal government, which the right wing has so—intentionally—weakened that not only is it insufficient to help its people, it is actively standing in help’s way. I fear we won’t sufficiently punish the right. I fear leaving the house and spreading the disease. I fear what this time of fear is doing to my children, their imaginations, and their souls.

At ArtForum , Berlin-based critic and writer Kristian Vistrup Madsen reflects on martinis, melancholia, and Finnish artist Jaakko Pallasvuo’s 2018 graphic novel Retreat , in which three young people exile themselves in the woods:

In melancholia, the shape of what is ending, and its temporality, is sprawling and incomprehensible. The ambivalence makes it hard to bear. The world of Retreat is rendered in lush pink and purple watercolors, which dissolve into wild and messy abstractions. In apocalypse, the divisions established in genesis bleed back out. My own Corona-retreat is similarly soft, color-field like, each day a blurred succession of quarantinis, YouTube–yoga, and televized press conferences. As restrictions mount, so does abstraction. For now, I’m still rooting for love to save the world.

At the Paris Review , Matt Levin writes about reading Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves during quarantine:

A retreat, a quarantine, a sickness—they simultaneously distort and clarify, curtail and expand. It is an ideal state in which to read literature with a reputation for difficulty and inaccessibility, those hermetic books shorn of the handholds of conventional plot or characterization or description. A novel like Virginia Woolf’s The Waves is perfect for the state of interiority induced by quarantine—a story of three men and three women, meeting after the death of a mutual friend, told entirely in the overlapping internal monologues of the six, interspersed only with sections of pure, achingly beautiful descriptions of the natural world, a day’s procession and recession of light and waves. The novel is, in my mind’s eye, a perfectly spherical object. It is translucent and shimmering and infinitely fragile, prone to shatter at the slightest disturbance. It is not a book that can be read in snatches on the subway—it demands total absorption. Though it revels in a stark emotional nakedness, the book remains aloof, remote in its own deep self-absorption.

• Vox is starting a book club. Come read with us!

In an essay for the Financial Times, novelist Arundhati Roy writes with anger about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anemic response to the threat, but also offers a glimmer of hope for the future:

Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.

From Boston, Nora Caplan-Bricker writes in The Point about the strange contraction of space under quarantine, in which a friend in Beirut is as close as the one around the corner in the same city:

It’s a nice illusion—nice to feel like we’re in it together, even if my real world has shrunk to one person, my husband, who sits with his laptop in the other room. It’s nice in the same way as reading those essays that reframe social distancing as solidarity. “We must begin to see the negative space as clearly as the positive, to know what we don’t do is also brilliant and full of love,” the poet Anne Boyer wrote on March 10th, the day that Massachusetts declared a state of emergency. If you squint, you could almost make sense of this quarantine as an effort to flatten, along with the curve, the distinctions we make between our bonds with others. Right now, I care for my neighbor in the same way I demonstrate love for my mother: in all instances, I stay away. And in moments this month, I have loved strangers with an intensity that is new to me. On March 14th, the Saturday night after the end of life as we knew it, I went out with my dog and found the street silent: no lines for restaurants, no children on bicycles, no couples strolling with little cups of ice cream. It had taken the combined will of thousands of people to deliver such a sudden and complete emptiness. I felt so grateful, and so bereft.

And on his own website, musician and artist David Byrne writes about rediscovering the value of working for collective good , saying that “what is happening now is an opportunity to learn how to change our behavior”:

In emergencies, citizens can suddenly cooperate and collaborate. Change can happen. We’re going to need to work together as the effects of climate change ramp up. In order for capitalism to survive in any form, we will have to be a little more socialist. Here is an opportunity for us to see things differently — to see that we really are all connected — and adjust our behavior accordingly. Are we willing to do this? Is this moment an opportunity to see how truly interdependent we all are? To live in a world that is different and better than the one we live in now? We might be too far down the road to test every asymptomatic person, but a change in our mindsets, in how we view our neighbors, could lay the groundwork for the collective action we’ll need to deal with other global crises. The time to see how connected we all are is now.

The portrait these writers paint of a world under quarantine is multifaceted. Our worlds have contracted to the confines of our homes, and yet in some ways we’re more connected than ever to one another. We feel fear and boredom, anger and gratitude, frustration and strange peace. Uncertainty drives us to find metaphors and images that will let us wrap our minds around what is happening.

Yet there’s no single “what” that is happening. Everyone is contending with the pandemic and its effects from different places and in different ways. Reading others’ experiences — even the most frightening ones — can help alleviate the loneliness and dread, a little, and remind us that what we’re going through is both unique and shared by all.

Most Popular

The supreme court just lit a match and tossed it into dozens of federal agencies, the supreme court just made a massive power grab it will come to regret, why the supreme court just ruled in favor of over 300 january 6 insurrectionists, the silver lining to biden’s debate disaster, hawk tuah girl, explained by straight dudes, today, explained.

Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day.

More in Culture

Looking for your next great read? We’re here to help.

A new book tackles the splendor and squalor of reality TV 

Julian Assange’s release is still a lose-lose for press freedom

The whole time? The Boys has been making fun of Trumpers the whole time?!

Why do all the world’s best athletes do Subway commercials?

What, if anything, is AI search good for?

What Kenya’s deadly protests are really about

How the UFC explains the USA  Audio

Kevin Costner, the American Western, and the American ego

LBJ and Truman knew when to quit. Will Biden?

How Democrats got here

Coronavirus Disease 2019

How the pandemic changed family dynamics, the potential impact of covid-19 on adolescents’ social development..

Posted August 2, 2021 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• The social effects of quarantine hit younger adolescents particularly hard, derailing typical development.
• During COVID-19, family was more influential than friends during a developmental period when the opposite would normally be true.
• Siblings may have functioned as a buffer against the social effects of quarantine for older adolescents.

The social landscape has looked wildly different over the past year and a half. Because of the quarantines and social restrictions made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person social interactions were greatly reduced in 2020 as many found themselves spending the majority of their time at home with family, and away from friends and colleagues. Previous research has already connected quarantine and increased mental health issues that have been observed during the pandemic (e.g., Chahal et al., 2020; Ghebreyesus et al., 2020).

Adolescence is a time of social exploration where peers begin to play a greater role than parents as teens move toward independence, so the disruption of this normative timeline, and particularly interactions with friends, is cause for concern (Ellis et al., 2020; Orben, Tomova, Blakemore, 2020). Cross-sectional studies on the effects of COVID-19 have shown that maintaining friendships is something children and adolescents were bothered by and that while online social connections can be beneficial, in-person interactions are more effective (Ellis et al., 2020; Orben et al., 2020).

A recent study led by Dr. Reuma Gadassi-Polack in our lab expanded what is known about the effects of COVID-19 quarantine by looking at adolescents’ social interactions and depressive symptoms before and during the pandemic (Gadassi Polack et al., in press). Researchers collected data from kids using short questionnaires completed daily, a year before COVID and again at the beginning of the pandemic. Each day, participants reported both positive and negative interactions with family members and peers and their depressive symptoms.

The study looked at 112 participants (age 8-15) who completed daily questionnaires in both the initial pre-COVID data collection (Wave 1) and the data collection during COVID (Wave 2). Researchers were able to capture information about both individual relationships and how they affect one another via “spillover,” a concept that will be discussed further below.

COVID Had Greater Negative Effects on Younger Adolescents

In typical development, we would expect to see uniform increases in interactions with peers alongside decreases in interactions with parents (e.g., Lam et al., 2012; Larson et al., 1991; Larson et al., 1996). Instead, younger (but not older) participants had significantly fewer positive interactions with peers during COVID compared to pre-COVID. For participants 13 and older, significantly more positive interactions with siblings were seen during COVID vs. before. This led to a greater negative impact on younger adolescents, who lost positive interactions with peers without gaining any positive interactions with siblings like older adolescents. In fact, younger adolescents had more negative interactions with siblings than friends or parents.

For both age groups, negative interactions with friends significantly decreased while there were no other significant decreases in other relationships. This finding presents a different facet of the move to online school: for some, this was an opportunity to escape a negative environment.

Altogether, the lack of the expected increase in interactions with friends suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has derailed the typical trajectory of social development. The larger effect can potentially be credited to less social development as younger adolescents are experiencing the same effects earlier in development, with less social skills in place. A further implication of these results is that in-person interactions cannot be neatly substituted with virtual interaction.

Family Members Were More Influential than Friends During the Early Stages of COVID-19

Looking at a process named “spillover” allowed researchers to understand the connections within the family, family subsystems, and peer relationships. The concept of spillover is grounded in the idea that our social world is made up of subsystems, including those within the family: the mother and father is a subsystem, as is the parent and child, or the siblings. These subsystems are of course connected (e.g., the mother-father relationship is related to the mother-child relationship), but not without some boundaries . When these boundaries become weaker, interactions in one subsystem can affect interactions in other subsystems via spillover (e.g., Chung et al., 2011; Flook & Fuligni, 2008; Kaufman et al., 2020; Krishnakumar & Buehler, 2000; Mastrotheodoros et al., 2020).

For example, an argument between parents can cause each parent to be more likely to argue with their child. What began as a negative interaction in the mother-father relationship has then spilled over into the parent-child relationship. This example would be considered negative spillover, where negative occurrences in one subsystem lead to negative interactions or feelings in another. Positive spillover occurs when the same thing happens with positive occurrences. For example, being praised by their mother might cause a child to be kinder to their sibling . Then, a positive interaction in the mother-child relationship has spilled over into the sibling relationship.

COVID-19 appeared to create a more closed family system, with fewer spillover effects from outside and more inside. In other words, interactions with family members impacted interactions with friends to a lesser degree during COVID. Separate interactions with family and friends are expected to affect each other less as adolescents develop typically. However, in the context of the pandemic, this was particularly detrimental for those who already had more negative family relationships prior to COVID as there was less day-level positive spillover and increased negative spillover on the individual level.

Increase in Depressive Symptoms Related to Family Interactions

Changes were not only seen in interactions, but also in levels of depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms increased significantly by almost 40 percent during COVID-19, regardless of age. This signifies the severity of COVID-19’s impact on adolescent mental health, above and beyond any increase in depression typically seen in development (e.g., Salk et al., 2016). The occurrence of less positive and more negative interactions with family members significantly predicted depressive symptoms during COVID-19.

More Positive than Negative Interactions and a New Role for Siblings

The effects of the social changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic were not wholly negative, however. Overall, most kids reported five times more positive interactions than negative interactions. Importantly, having more positive interactions with family members was associated with smaller increases in depressive symptoms during COVID.

The effect of the pandemic on sibling relationships was also more positive. Few would be surprised to hear siblings had a high number of negative interactions – much higher compared to any other relationship. However, increased positive interactions without an increase in negative interactions with siblings was seen in older adolescents, suggesting that siblings can compensate at least somewhat for the decrease in in-person peer interactions.

Combined with prior research on siblings’ positive effects on mental health and loneliness (McHale, Updegraff, & Whiteman, 2012; Wikle, Ackert, & Jenson, 2019), these results suggest that the presence of siblings is beneficial during a time of social isolation .

In general, this research shines a light on how important peer interactions are for normative development and the necessity of ensuring children and adolescents are given opportunities to spend time, especially in-person, with peers.

Take-Home Points

• Family negativity predicted the increase in depressive symptoms during COVID-19. In families with more positive interactions, there was less of an increase.
• Siblings potentially functioned as a buffer for the social effects of quarantine for older adolescents.

Anna Leah Davis, a Yale undergraduate, contributed to the writing of this blog post.

Chahal, R., Kirshenbaum, J. S., Miller, J. G., Ho, T. C., & Gotlib, I. H. (2020). Higher executive control network coherence buffers against puberty-related increases in internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Biological Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.08.010

Chung, G. H., Flook, L., & Fuligni, A. J. (2011). Reciprocal associations between family and peer conflict in adolescents' daily lives. Child Development, 82, 1390–1396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01625.x

Ellis, W. E., Dumas, T. M., & Forbes, L. M. (2020). Physically isolated but socially connected: Psychological adjustment and stress among adolescents during the initial COVID-19 crisis. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 52, 177-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000215

Flook, L., & Fuligni, A. J. (2008). Family and school spillover in adolescents’ daily lives. Child Development, 79, 776-787. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01157.x

Gadassi Polack, R. Sened, H., Aubé, S., Zhang, A., Joormann, J., & Kober, H. (in press) Connections during Crisis: Adolescents’ social dynamics and mental health during COVID-19. Developmental Psychology.

Ghebreyesus, T.A. (2020). Addressing mental health needs: an integral part of COVID-19 response. World Psychiatry, 19, 129–130. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20768

Hankin, B. L., Stone, L., & Wright, P. A. (2010). Corumination, interpersonal stress generation, and internalizing symptoms: accumulating effects and transactional influences in a multiwave study of adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 217–235. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409990368

Kaufman, T. M., Kretschmer, T., Huitsing, G., & Veenstra, R. (2020). Caught in a vicious cycle? Explaining bidirectional spillover between parent-child relationships and peer victimization. Development and Psychopathology, 32, 11-20. doi: 10.1017/S0954579418001360.

Krishnakumar, A., & Buehler, C. (2000). Interparental conflict and parenting behaviors: A meta‐analytic review. Family Relations, 49, 25-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2000.00025.x

Lam, C. B., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2012). Parent–child shared time from middle childhood to late adolescence: Developmental course and adjustment correlates. Child Development, 83, 2089-2103. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01826.x

Larson, R., & Richards, M. H. (1991). Daily companionship in late childhood and early adolescence: Changing developmental contexts. Child Development, 62, 284-300. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131003

Larson, R. W., Richards, M. H., Moneta, G., Holmbeck, G., & Duckett, E. (1996). Changes in adolescents' daily interactions with their families from ages 10 to 18: Disengagement and transformation. Developmental Psychology, 32, 744–754. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.32.4.744

Mastrotheodoros, S., Van Lissa, C. J., Van der Graaff, J., Deković, M., Meeus, W. H., & Branje, S. J. (2020). Day-to-day spillover and long-term transmission of interparental conflict to adolescent–mother conflict: The role of mood. Journal of Family Psychology. doi: 10.1037/fam0000649.

McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., & Whiteman, S. D. (2012). Sibling Relationships and Influences in Childhood and Adolescence. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 74, 913–930. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01011.x

Orben, A., Tomova, L., & Blakemore, S. J. (2020). The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S2352-4642(20)30186-3

Salk, R. H., Petersen, J. L., Abramson, L. Y., & Hyde, J. S. (2016). The contemporary face of gender differences and similarities in depression throughout adolescence: Development and chronicity. Journal of Affective Disorders, 205, 28-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.03.071

Wikle, J. S., Ackert, E., & Jensen, A. C. (2019). Companionship patterns and emotional states during social interactions for adolescents with and without siblings. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48, 2190–2206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01121-z

Jutta Joormann, Ph.D ., is a professor of psychology at Yale University who studies risk factors for depression and anxiety disorders.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that could derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face triggers with less reactivity and get on with our lives.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

Rochester News

• Science & Technology

Society & Culture

• Campus Life
• University News
• From the Magazine

How does the pandemic affect families who were already struggling?

• Facebook Share on Facebook
• X/Twitter Share on Twitter
• LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn

Rochester psychologists have been awarded federal funding to study the pandemic’s long-term effects on family cohesion and child well-being.

About a year and a half after COVID-19 rapidly spread around the globe, scientists have begun to examine the pandemic’s long-term societal effects. University of Rochester psychologists and the University’s Mt. Hope Family Center have been awarded a $3.1 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( NICHD ) to study the pandemic’s implications for American families and parenting.  

The study’s principal coinvestigators, psychology professors Melissa Sturge-Apple and Patrick Davies , expect acute negative effects on family functioning and family cohesion to last for years, especially in families that already experienced high levels of difficulties prior to the pandemic.

While scientifically sound, measures to slow the pandemic—such as stay-at-home orders, remote instruction, and limited public gatherings—had negative repercussions on families.

“The pandemic has been extremely stressful for families with significant worries about the health of family members, financial instability, food uncertainty, social isolation, and increased caregiving burdens associated with having children at home,” says Sturge-Apple, who is also the University’s vice provost and dean of graduate education. “The study seeks to identify factors that helped families cope, in order to inform best interventions for families at risk.”

How and why COVID amplifies family conflict

During the pandemic, the incidence of domestic violence in the US surged, with estimates ranging between a 21 to 35 percent increase. These statistics are particularly distressing in the context of already high levels of harsh parenting , as documented in Davies and Sturge-Apple’s work, even before the pandemic.

“By following families before, during, and after the pandemic, we will be able to assess more precisely how and why COVID-19 may amplify conflict between parents that then spills over into the way they care for their children,” says Davies. “Our study will examine a number of different mechanisms at neurobiological, familial, and extrafamilial levels.”

What helped secure the NICHD funding was the existence of a recent three-year family study at Mt. Hope Family Center immediately prior to the onset of the pandemic, which provides a baseline against which the additional COVID-19 stressors and effects can be measured. The teams plan on three additional annual waves of data collection.

Understanding the public health significance is crucial for developmental scientists, clinicians, and public policy advocates in order to develop evidence-based treatments and interventions that help struggling families.

The NICHD will award the grant funding over five years.

The Mt. Hope Family Center sits on a two-way street. Its researchers and clinicians have provided evidence-based services to at-risk families, while training the next generation of clinicians and research scientists.

New grants recognize the center’s success in addressing complex challenges among vulnerable children and their families.

A new study shows that early experiences of environmental harshness, in combination with personal temperament, can shape the child’s problem-solving abilities later in life.

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Wiley - PMC COVID-19 Collection

Family in the Age of COVID‐19

Jay l. lebow.

1 Editor, Family Process, Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston IL

The coronavirus has had a profound effect on the world in a multitude of ways. By the time this appears (written in mid‐April 2020), we probably will have some better sense of its ultimate impact. This essay centers on only one meaning of its effects: How it has impacted family life.

First and foremost, the COVID‐19 outbreak is a great human tragedy. In the long progression of human suffering, there have been other momentous times of loss, ranging from wars to genocides to massive oppression to other pandemics, but never one so widespread across such an interconnected world. Many people have died; still, more are critically ill. World economies and social structures suffer, and with this comes vulnerabilities to totalitarian and authoritarian politics in many countries.

Having said that, reactions to COVID‐19 also present a once in a lifetime international social experiment about family life, perhaps the most widespread social experiment of all time. Not only have individuals and families been dealing with threats to their health from COVID‐19 itself by trying to avoid and survive infection, but there have also been so many special meanings for families. For many, there, very directly, is the loss of family members (with those losses often occurring in ways removed from family contact that are in this era unusual). For almost everyone, there are anxieties and other feelings related to such potential losses (Weingarten & Worthen, 2018 ). Combine this with the other problems (e.g., increased unemployment and financial vulnerability) that accompany the pandemic, dealing with loss and possible loss are ubiquitous (Walsh, 2019 ).

Beyond such direct impacts of the virus, there are indirect effects. We are living through an intense period for family life, governed by a unique set of very strong external boundaries. Physical contact and close emotional contact have been mandated in many places by orders to remain within living units. This makes for powerful shared processes. It also makes for sometimes painful, intentional choices about who is in close contact with whom, that is, who is included within the boundary of close contact and who is excluded. To quote Dickens, “It was the best of times; It was the worst of times” (Dickens, 2014 ), a moment in which stories of heroic family closeness and resilience (Walsh, 2016 ) and unmitigated family stress and conflict both are prevalent. Enactments having to do with key processes within families can be expected to frequently emerge, moments that have long been described by structural family therapists as filled with possibilities for both gains and deterioration (Minuchin, 1974 ).

COVID‐19 also has plunged most of us full tilt into the already emerging world of virtual connection. Contacts beyond the nuclear family unit are almost exclusively by videoconferencing, phone, or app. With this change, it does seem that geography is now becoming far less a factor in our interconnected world. Zoom across an ocean or to next door does not differ much from each other. Yet, there is a difference between virtual and in‐person contact. Again, there are both the yin and yang of this, both the challenge of loss of connection and new possibilities for connection (Fishbane, 2019 ). Future social science will sure tell us how this has been experienced and its impact.

There have also been additional tests for those families that already face special challenges. What is the impact on families that already have members or subsystems in which there are individual or relational difficulties that are now cutoff from much of the outside world? Clearly, additional risks are evident in couples and families already at risk of violence, conflict,  or other forms of relational difficulty. Not surprisingly, early data from China point to an increase in divorce rates during their period of lockdown (Prasso, 2019 ). Additional difficulties also likely emerge for families who   have been dealing with troubled family members with the help of others that is now absent (McFarlane, 2016 ). Similarly, there are new and different opportunities for conflict in divorced and remarried families, where the frequency of contact between parents and children often already is at issue (Ganong & Coleman, 2018 ; Lebow, 2019a , 2019b ; Papernow, 2018 ). In other families, what looked to be successful processes of family transition, such as young adults leaving home to establish their own identities, have been suddenly radically reversed, engendering a myriad of problematic possibilities. And as virtual communication becomes the norm, what do families do about connecting with those who lack the necessary technology or technological skill to do so? There also is a challenge for those who depend on rituals for connection, be it church or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or family dinners, that are now disrupted. Research shows that the maintenance of such regular and dependable rituals can be central in distinguishing those who become casualties from those who remain resilient through difficult times (Bennett, Wolin, Reiss, & Teitelbaum, 1987 ; Imber‐Black, Roberts, & Whiting, 1988 ). It also has already emerged that this virus is fatal far more often in some groups, such as African Americans, than in others. As is frequently the case in terrible events, effects are more pronounced for those who have the least financial resources. Crises like this one call further attention to profound underlying issues surrounding the impact of income inequality and racism in society (Anderson, McKenny, & Stevenson, 2019 ; Watson, 2019 ).

On the clinical front, COVID‐19 has prompted a vast expansion in telehealth practices and a considerable evolution in the methods and ethics for practice delivered through technology. For those who do couple and family therapy, the issues raised are complex and there has been limited guidance from earlier writing and presentations about these methods (Caldwell et al., 2017 ; Hertlein, Blumer, & Mihaloliakos, 2015 ; Hertlein & Piercy, 2012 ; Pickens et al., 2020 ). How to establish appointments with some members of a family at a distance? How to guarantee the privacy of the members of a family who are in treatment from those who are not? How to adapt therapies that involve young children? 1 What have been the initial offerings of a few about telehealth and online intervention in relational therapies (Connolly, Miller, Lindsay, & Bauer, 2020 ; Forgatch & Kjøbli, 2016 ; Georgia Salivar, Rothman, Roddy, & Doss, 2018 ; Owen, 2019 ; Roddy, Nowlan, & Doss, 2017 ; Traube et al., 2019 ; Tsami, Lerman, & Toper‐Korkmaz, 2019 ) have suddenly become the predominant methods of practice.

All these specific questions about the clinical practice of couple and family therapy also lead to larger empirical questions. Are relational therapies delivered at a distance as effective as in‐person therapy? What impact do teletherapy treatments or computer and app‐mediated prevention programs have on relational life and individual well‐being in this time? How are therapy processes, such as alliance formation, impacted (Davis & Hsieh, 2019 )? Do some forms of couple and family therapy or therapist methods of practice export to telehealth better than others (Russell & Breunlin, 2019 )? Are there alterations in practice that are needed for the most effective telehealth practice? Several studies already point to the benefits of online methods (Connolly et al., 2020 ; Owen, 2019 ; Traube et al., 2019 ; Tsami et al., 2019 ), but what can we learn from this vastly expanded context?

All told, these are highly stressful and most interesting times. Clinical experience already points to emerging trends. It will be fascinating to see what family science finds to be the short‐ and long‐term effects of these times and the impact of our methods of intervention during it.

1 The good news for those with a systemic focus is that this question about therapy with children can only be answered by including parents in therapy; thus, a systemic goal of parent involvement in all cases may be furthered by the evolution of this medium.

• Anderson, R. E. , McKenny, M. C. , & Stevenson, H. C. (2019). EMBRace: Developing a racial socialization intervention to reduce racial stress and enhance racial coping among black parents and adolescents . Family Process , 58 ( 1 ), 53–67. 10.1111/famp.12412. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bennett, L. A. , Wolin, S. J. , Reiss, D. , & Teitelbaum, M. A. (1987). Couples at risk for transmission of alcoholism: Protective influences . Family Process , 26 ( 1 ), 111–129. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Caldwell, B. E. , Bischoff, R. J. , Derrig‐Palumbo, K. A. , & Liebert, J. D. (2017). Best practices in the online practice of couple and family therapy [PDF file]. Retrieved April 10, 2020 from https://www.aamft.org/Documents/Products/AAMFT_Best_Practices_for_Online_MFT.pdf . [ Google Scholar ]
• Connolly, S. L. , Miller, C. J. , Lindsay, J. A. , & Bauer, M. S. (2020). A systematic review of providers’ attitudes toward telemental health via videoconferencing . Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice . 10.1111/cpsp.12311. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Davis, S. D. , & Hsieh, A. L. (2019). What does it mean to be a common factors informed family therapist? Family Process , 58 ( 3 ), 629–640. 10.1111/famp.12477. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dickens, C. (2014). A tale of two cities . Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue Editions. [ Google Scholar ]
• Fishbane, M. D. (2019). Healing intergenerational wounds: An integrative relational‐neurobiological approach . Family Process , 58 ( 4 ), 796–818. 10.1111/famp.12488. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Forgatch, M. S. , & Kjøbli, J. (2016). Parent management training—oregon model: Adapting intervention with rigorous research . Family Process , 55 ( 3 ), 500–513. 10.1111/famp.12224. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ganong, L. , & Coleman, M. (2018). Studying stepfamilies: Four eras of family scholarship . Family Process , 57 ( 1 ), 7–24. 10.1111/famp.12307. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Georgia Salivar, E. J. , Rothman, K. , Roddy, M. K. , & Doss, B. D. (2018). Relative cost effectiveness of in‐person and internet interventions for relationship distress . Family Process , 59 ( 1 ), 66–80. 10.1111/famp.12414. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hertlein, K. M. , Blumer, M. L. C. , & Mihaloliakos, J. H. (2015). Marriage and family counselors’ perceived ethical issues related to online therapy . The Family Journal , 23 ( 1 ), 5–12. 10.1177/1066480714547184. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hertlein, K. M. , & Piercy, F. P. (2012). Essential elements of internet infidelity treatment . Journal of Marital and Family Therapy , 38 , 257–270. 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00275.x. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Imber‐Black, E. , Roberts, J. , & Whiting, R. A. (Eds.) (1988). Rituals in families and family therapy . New York: W. W. Norton & Co Inc. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lebow, J. L. (2019a). Current issues in the practice of integrative couple and family therapy . Family Process , 58 ( 3 ), 610–628. 10.1111/famp.12473. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lebow, J. L. (2019b). Treating the difficult divorce: A practical guide for psychotherapists . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [ Google Scholar ]
• McFarlane, W. R. (2016). Family Interventions for Schizophrenia and the Psychoses: A Review . Family Process , 55 ( 3 ), 460–482. 10.1111/famp.12235. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Minuchin, S. (1974). Families & family therapy . Oxford, UK: Harvard U. Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Owen, N. (2019). Feasibility and acceptability of using telehealth for early intervention parent counselling . Advances in Mental Health , 18 ( 1 ), 39–49. 10.1080/18387357.2019.1679026. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Papernow, P. L. (2018). Clinical guidelines for working with stepfamilies: What family, couple, individual, and child therapists need to know . Family Process , 57 ( 1 ), 25–51. 10.1111/famp.12321. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pickens, J. C. , Morris, N. , & Johnson, D. J. (2020). The digital divide: Couple and family therapy programs’ integration of teletherapy training and education . Journal of Marital and Family Therapy , 46 ( 2 ), 186–200. 10.1111/jmft.12417. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Prasso, S . (2019) China’s divorce spike is a warning to rest of locked‐down world . Bloomberg Businessweek. March 31, 2020. [ Google Scholar ]
• Roddy, M. K. , Nowlan, K. M. , & Doss, B. D. (2017). A randomized controlled trial of coach contact during a brief online intervention for distressed couples . Family Process , 56 ( 4 ), 835–851. 10.1111/famp.12262. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Russell, W. P. , & Breunlin, D. C. (2019). Transcending therapy models and managing complexity: Suggestions from integrative systemic therapy . Family Process , 58 ( 3 ), 641–655. 10.1111/famp.12482. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Traube, D. E. , Hsiao, H.‐Y. , Rau, A. , Hunt‐O'Brien, D. , Lu, L. , & Islam, N. (2019). Advancing home based parenting programs through the use of telehealth technology . Journal of Child and Family Studies , 29 ( 1 ), 44–53. 10.1007/s10826-019-01458-w. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tsami, L. , Lerman, D. , & Toper‐Korkmaz, O. (2019). Effectiveness and acceptability of parent training via telehealth among families around the world . Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis , 52 ( 4 ), 1113–1129. 10.1002/jaba.645. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Walsh, F. (2016). Applying a family resilience framework in training, practice, and research: Mastering the art of the possible . Family Process , 55 ( 4 ), 616–632. 10.1111/famp.12260. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Walsh, F. (2019). Loss and bereavement in families: A systemic framework for recovery and resilience. In Fiese B. H., Celano M., Deater‐Deckard K., Jouriles E. N. & Whisman M. A. (Eds.), APA handbook of contemporary family psychology: Foundations, methods, and contemporary issues across the lifespan (Vol. 1 , pp. 649–663). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [ Google Scholar ]
• Watson, M. F. (2019). Social justice and race in the united states: Key issues and challenges for couple and family therapy . Family Process , 58 ( 1 ):23–33. 10.1111/famp.12427. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Weingarten, K. , & Worthen, M. (2018). The solace of an uncertain future: Acute illness, the self, and self‐care . Family Process , 57 ( 2 ), 572–586. 10.1111/famp.12347. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Log in using your username and password

• Search More Search for this keyword Advanced search
• Latest content
• Current issue
• BMJ Journals

You are here

• Volume 76, Issue 2
• COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health
• Article Text
• Article info
• Citation Tools
• Rapid Responses
• Article metrics

• http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1512-4471 Emily Long 1 ,
• Susan Patterson 1 ,
• Karen Maxwell 1 ,
• Carolyn Blake 1 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7342-4566 Raquel Bosó Pérez 1 ,
• Ruth Lewis 1 ,
• Mark McCann 1 ,
• Julie Riddell 1 ,
• Kathryn Skivington 1 ,
• Rachel Wilson-Lowe 1 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4409-6601 Kirstin R Mitchell 2
• 1 MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit , University of Glasgow , Glasgow , UK
• 2 MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Institute of Health & Wellbeing , University of Glasgow , Glasgow , UK
• Correspondence to Dr Emily Long, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G3 7HR, UK; emily.long{at}glasgow.ac.uk

This essay examines key aspects of social relationships that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses explicitly on relational mechanisms of health and brings together theory and emerging evidence on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to make recommendations for future public health policy and recovery. We first provide an overview of the pandemic in the UK context, outlining the nature of the public health response. We then introduce four distinct domains of social relationships: social networks, social support, social interaction and intimacy, highlighting the mechanisms through which the pandemic and associated public health response drastically altered social interactions in each domain. Throughout the essay, the lens of health inequalities, and perspective of relationships as interconnecting elements in a broader system, is used to explore the varying impact of these disruptions. The essay concludes by providing recommendations for longer term recovery ensuring that the social relational cost of COVID-19 is adequately considered in efforts to rebuild.

• inequalities

Data availability statement

Data sharing not applicable as no data sets generated and/or analysed for this study. Data sharing not applicable as no data sets generated or analysed for this essay.

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-216690

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request permissions.

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Introduction

Infectious disease pandemics, including SARS and COVID-19, demand intrapersonal behaviour change and present highly complex challenges for public health. 1 A pandemic of an airborne infection, spread easily through social contact, assails human relationships by drastically altering the ways through which humans interact. In this essay, we draw on theories of social relationships to examine specific ways in which relational mechanisms key to health and well-being were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Relational mechanisms refer to the processes between people that lead to change in health outcomes.

At the time of writing, the future surrounding COVID-19 was uncertain. Vaccine programmes were being rolled out in countries that could afford them, but new and more contagious variants of the virus were also being discovered. The recovery journey looked long, with continued disruption to social relationships. The social cost of COVID-19 was only just beginning to emerge, but the mental health impact was already considerable, 2 3 and the inequality of the health burden stark. 4 Knowledge of the epidemiology of COVID-19 accrued rapidly, but evidence of the most effective policy responses remained uncertain.

The initial response to COVID-19 in the UK was reactive and aimed at reducing mortality, with little time to consider the social implications, including for interpersonal and community relationships. The terminology of ‘social distancing’ quickly became entrenched both in public and policy discourse. This equation of physical distance with social distance was regrettable, since only physical proximity causes viral transmission, whereas many forms of social proximity (eg, conversations while walking outdoors) are minimal risk, and are crucial to maintaining relationships supportive of health and well-being.

The aim of this essay is to explore four key relational mechanisms that were impacted by the pandemic and associated restrictions: social networks, social support, social interaction and intimacy. We use relational theories and emerging research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic response to make three key recommendations: one regarding public health responses; and two regarding social recovery. Our understanding of these mechanisms stems from a ‘systems’ perspective which casts social relationships as interdependent elements within a connected whole. 5

Social networks

Social networks characterise the individuals and social connections that compose a system (such as a workplace, community or society). Social relationships range from spouses and partners, to coworkers, friends and acquaintances. They vary across many dimensions, including, for example, frequency of contact and emotional closeness. Social networks can be understood both in terms of the individuals and relationships that compose the network, as well as the overall network structure (eg, how many of your friends know each other).

Social networks show a tendency towards homophily, or a phenomenon of associating with individuals who are similar to self. 6 This is particularly true for ‘core’ network ties (eg, close friends), while more distant, sometimes called ‘weak’ ties tend to show more diversity. During the height of COVID-19 restrictions, face-to-face interactions were often reduced to core network members, such as partners, family members or, potentially, live-in roommates; some ‘weak’ ties were lost, and interactions became more limited to those closest. Given that peripheral, weaker social ties provide a diversity of resources, opinions and support, 7 COVID-19 likely resulted in networks that were smaller and more homogenous.

Such changes were not inevitable nor necessarily enduring, since social networks are also adaptive and responsive to change, in that a disruption to usual ways of interacting can be replaced by new ways of engaging (eg, Zoom). Yet, important inequalities exist, wherein networks and individual relationships within networks are not equally able to adapt to such changes. For example, individuals with a large number of newly established relationships (eg, university students) may have struggled to transfer these relationships online, resulting in lost contacts and a heightened risk of social isolation. This is consistent with research suggesting that young adults were the most likely to report a worsening of relationships during COVID-19, whereas older adults were the least likely to report a change. 8

Lastly, social connections give rise to emergent properties of social systems, 9 where a community-level phenomenon develops that cannot be attributed to any one member or portion of the network. For example, local area-based networks emerged due to geographic restrictions (eg, stay-at-home orders), resulting in increases in neighbourly support and local volunteering. 10 In fact, research suggests that relationships with neighbours displayed the largest net gain in ratings of relationship quality compared with a range of relationship types (eg, partner, colleague, friend). 8 Much of this was built from spontaneous individual interactions within local communities, which together contributed to the ‘community spirit’ that many experienced. 11 COVID-19 restrictions thus impacted the personal social networks and the structure of the larger networks within the society.

Social support

Social support, referring to the psychological and material resources provided through social interaction, is a critical mechanism through which social relationships benefit health. In fact, social support has been shown to be one of the most important resilience factors in the aftermath of stressful events. 12 In the context of COVID-19, the usual ways in which individuals interact and obtain social support have been severely disrupted.

One such disruption has been to opportunities for spontaneous social interactions. For example, conversations with colleagues in a break room offer an opportunity for socialising beyond one’s core social network, and these peripheral conversations can provide a form of social support. 13 14 A chance conversation may lead to advice helpful to coping with situations or seeking formal help. Thus, the absence of these spontaneous interactions may mean the reduction of indirect support-seeking opportunities. While direct support-seeking behaviour is more effective at eliciting support, it also requires significantly more effort and may be perceived as forceful and burdensome. 15 The shift to homeworking and closure of community venues reduced the number of opportunities for these spontaneous interactions to occur, and has, second, focused them locally. Consequently, individuals whose core networks are located elsewhere, or who live in communities where spontaneous interaction is less likely, have less opportunity to benefit from spontaneous in-person supportive interactions.

However, alongside this disruption, new opportunities to interact and obtain social support have arisen. The surge in community social support during the initial lockdown mirrored that often seen in response to adverse events (eg, natural disasters 16 ). COVID-19 restrictions that confined individuals to their local area also compelled them to focus their in-person efforts locally. Commentators on the initial lockdown in the UK remarked on extraordinary acts of generosity between individuals who belonged to the same community but were unknown to each other. However, research on adverse events also tells us that such community support is not necessarily maintained in the longer term. 16

Meanwhile, online forms of social support are not bound by geography, thus enabling interactions and social support to be received from a wider network of people. Formal online social support spaces (eg, support groups) existed well before COVID-19, but have vastly increased since. While online interactions can increase perceived social support, it is unclear whether remote communication technologies provide an effective substitute from in-person interaction during periods of social distancing. 17 18 It makes intuitive sense that the usefulness of online social support will vary by the type of support offered, degree of social interaction and ‘online communication skills’ of those taking part. Youth workers, for instance, have struggled to keep vulnerable youth engaged in online youth clubs, 19 despite others finding a positive association between amount of digital technology used by individuals during lockdown and perceived social support. 20 Other research has found that more frequent face-to-face contact and phone/video contact both related to lower levels of depression during the time period of March to August 2020, but the negative effect of a lack of contact was greater for those with higher levels of usual sociability. 21 Relatedly, important inequalities in social support exist, such that individuals who occupy more socially disadvantaged positions in society (eg, low socioeconomic status, older people) tend to have less access to social support, 22 potentially exacerbated by COVID-19.

Social and interactional norms

Interactional norms are key relational mechanisms which build trust, belonging and identity within and across groups in a system. Individuals in groups and societies apply meaning by ‘approving, arranging and redefining’ symbols of interaction. 23 A handshake, for instance, is a powerful symbol of trust and equality. Depending on context, not shaking hands may symbolise a failure to extend friendship, or a failure to reach agreement. The norms governing these symbols represent shared values and identity; and mutual understanding of these symbols enables individuals to achieve orderly interactions, establish supportive relationship accountability and connect socially. 24 25

Physical distancing measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 radically altered these norms of interaction, particularly those used to convey trust, affinity, empathy and respect (eg, hugging, physical comforting). 26 As epidemic waves rose and fell, the work to negotiate these norms required intense cognitive effort; previously taken-for-granted interactions were re-examined, factoring in current restriction levels, own and (assumed) others’ vulnerability and tolerance of risk. This created awkwardness, and uncertainty, for example, around how to bring closure to an in-person interaction or convey warmth. The instability in scripted ways of interacting created particular strain for individuals who already struggled to encode and decode interactions with others (eg, those who are deaf or have autism spectrum disorder); difficulties often intensified by mask wearing. 27

Large social gatherings—for example, weddings, school assemblies, sporting events—also present key opportunities for affirming and assimilating interactional norms, building cohesion and shared identity and facilitating cooperation across social groups. 28 Online ‘equivalents’ do not easily support ‘social-bonding’ activities such as singing and dancing, and rarely enable chance/spontaneous one-on-one conversations with peripheral/weaker network ties (see the Social networks section) which can help strengthen bonds across a larger network. The loss of large gatherings to celebrate rites of passage (eg, bar mitzvah, weddings) has additional relational costs since these events are performed by and for communities to reinforce belonging, and to assist in transitioning to new phases of life. 29 The loss of interaction with diverse others via community and large group gatherings also reduces intergroup contact, which may then tend towards more prejudiced outgroup attitudes. While online interaction can go some way to mimicking these interaction norms, there are key differences. A sense of anonymity, and lack of in-person emotional cues, tends to support norms of polarisation and aggression in expressing differences of opinion online. And while online platforms have potential to provide intergroup contact, the tendency of much social media to form homogeneous ‘echo chambers’ can serve to further reduce intergroup contact. 30 31

Intimacy relates to the feeling of emotional connection and closeness with other human beings. Emotional connection, through romantic, friendship or familial relationships, fulfils a basic human need 32 and strongly benefits health, including reduced stress levels, improved mental health, lowered blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease. 32 33 Intimacy can be fostered through familiarity, feeling understood and feeling accepted by close others. 34

Intimacy via companionship and closeness is fundamental to mental well-being. Positively, the COVID-19 pandemic has offered opportunities for individuals to (re)connect and (re)strengthen close relationships within their household via quality time together, following closure of many usual external social activities. Research suggests that the first full UK lockdown period led to a net gain in the quality of steady relationships at a population level, 35 but amplified existing inequalities in relationship quality. 35 36 For some in single-person households, the absence of a companion became more conspicuous, leading to feelings of loneliness and lower mental well-being. 37 38 Additional pandemic-related relational strain 39 40 resulted, for some, in the initiation or intensification of domestic abuse. 41 42

Physical touch is another key aspect of intimacy, a fundamental human need crucial in maintaining and developing intimacy within close relationships. 34 Restrictions on social interactions severely restricted the number and range of people with whom physical affection was possible. The reduction in opportunity to give and receive affectionate physical touch was not experienced equally. Many of those living alone found themselves completely without physical contact for extended periods. The deprivation of physical touch is evidenced to take a heavy emotional toll. 43 Even in future, once physical expressions of affection can resume, new levels of anxiety over germs may introduce hesitancy into previously fluent blending of physical and verbal intimate social connections. 44

The pandemic also led to shifts in practices and norms around sexual relationship building and maintenance, as individuals adapted and sought alternative ways of enacting sexual intimacy. This too is important, given that intimate sexual activity has known benefits for health. 45 46 Given that social restrictions hinged on reducing household mixing, possibilities for partnered sexual activity were primarily guided by living arrangements. While those in cohabiting relationships could potentially continue as before, those who were single or in non-cohabiting relationships generally had restricted opportunities to maintain their sexual relationships. Pornography consumption and digital partners were reported to increase since lockdown. 47 However, online interactions are qualitatively different from in-person interactions and do not provide the same opportunities for physical intimacy.

Recommendations and conclusions

In the sections above we have outlined the ways in which COVID-19 has impacted social relationships, showing how relational mechanisms key to health have been undermined. While some of the damage might well self-repair after the pandemic, there are opportunities inherent in deliberative efforts to build back in ways that facilitate greater resilience in social and community relationships. We conclude by making three recommendations: one regarding public health responses to the pandemic; and two regarding social recovery.

Recommendation 1: explicitly count the relational cost of public health policies to control the pandemic

Effective handling of a pandemic recognises that social, economic and health concerns are intricately interwoven. It is clear that future research and policy attention must focus on the social consequences. As described above, policies which restrict physical mixing across households carry heavy and unequal relational costs. These include for individuals (eg, loss of intimate touch), dyads (eg, loss of warmth, comfort), networks (eg, restricted access to support) and communities (eg, loss of cohesion and identity). Such costs—and their unequal impact—should not be ignored in short-term efforts to control an epidemic. Some public health responses—restrictions on international holiday travel and highly efficient test and trace systems—have relatively small relational costs and should be prioritised. At a national level, an earlier move to proportionate restrictions, and investment in effective test and trace systems, may help prevent escalation of spread to the point where a national lockdown or tight restrictions became an inevitability. Where policies with relational costs are unavoidable, close attention should be paid to the unequal relational impact for those whose personal circumstances differ from normative assumptions of two adult families. This includes consideration of whether expectations are fair (eg, for those who live alone), whether restrictions on social events are equitable across age group, religious/ethnic groupings and social class, and also to ensure that the language promoted by such policies (eg, households; families) is not exclusionary. 48 49 Forethought to unequal impacts on social relationships should thus be integral to the work of epidemic preparedness teams.

Recommendation 2: intelligently balance online and offline ways of relating

A key ingredient for well-being is ‘getting together’ in a physical sense. This is fundamental to a human need for intimate touch, physical comfort, reinforcing interactional norms and providing practical support. Emerging evidence suggests that online ways of relating cannot simply replace physical interactions. But online interaction has many benefits and for some it offers connections that did not exist previously. In particular, online platforms provide new forms of support for those unable to access offline services because of mobility issues (eg, older people) or because they are geographically isolated from their support community (eg, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth). Ultimately, multiple forms of online and offline social interactions are required to meet the needs of varying groups of people (eg, LGBTQ, older people). Future research and practice should aim to establish ways of using offline and online support in complementary and even synergistic ways, rather than veering between them as social restrictions expand and contract. Intelligent balancing of online and offline ways of relating also pertains to future policies on home and flexible working. A decision to switch to wholesale or obligatory homeworking should consider the risk to relational ‘group properties’ of the workplace community and their impact on employees’ well-being, focusing in particular on unequal impacts (eg, new vs established employees). Intelligent blending of online and in-person working is required to achieve flexibility while also nurturing supportive networks at work. Intelligent balance also implies strategies to build digital literacy and minimise digital exclusion, as well as coproducing solutions with intended beneficiaries.

Recommendation 3: build stronger and sustainable localised communities

In balancing offline and online ways of interacting, there is opportunity to capitalise on the potential for more localised, coherent communities due to scaled-down travel, homeworking and local focus that will ideally continue after restrictions end. There are potential economic benefits after the pandemic, such as increased trade as home workers use local resources (eg, coffee shops), but also relational benefits from stronger relationships around the orbit of the home and neighbourhood. Experience from previous crises shows that community volunteer efforts generated early on will wane over time in the absence of deliberate work to maintain them. Adequately funded partnerships between local government, third sector and community groups are required to sustain community assets that began as a direct response to the pandemic. Such partnerships could work to secure green spaces and indoor (non-commercial) meeting spaces that promote community interaction. Green spaces in particular provide a triple benefit in encouraging physical activity and mental health, as well as facilitating social bonding. 50 In building local communities, small community networks—that allow for diversity and break down ingroup/outgroup views—may be more helpful than the concept of ‘support bubbles’, which are exclusionary and less sustainable in the longer term. Rigorously designed intervention and evaluation—taking a systems approach—will be crucial in ensuring scale-up and sustainability.

The dramatic change to social interaction necessitated by efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 created stark challenges but also opportunities. Our essay highlights opportunities for learning, both to ensure the equity and humanity of physical restrictions, and to sustain the salutogenic effects of social relationships going forward. The starting point for capitalising on this learning is recognition of the disruption to relational mechanisms as a key part of the socioeconomic and health impact of the pandemic. In recovery planning, a general rule is that what is good for decreasing health inequalities (such as expanding social protection and public services and pursuing green inclusive growth strategies) 4 will also benefit relationships and safeguard relational mechanisms for future generations. Putting this into action will require political will.

Ethics statements

Patient consent for publication.

Not required.

• Office for National Statistics (ONS)
• Ford T , et al
• Riordan R ,
• Ford J , et al
• Glonti K , et al
• McPherson JM ,
• Smith-Lovin L
• Granovetter MS
• Fancourt D et al
• Stadtfeld C
• Office for Civil Society
• Cook J et al
• Rodriguez-Llanes JM ,
• Guha-Sapir D
• Patulny R et al
• Granovetter M
• Winkeler M ,
• Filipp S-H ,
• Kaniasty K ,
• de Terte I ,
• Guilaran J , et al
• Wright KB ,
• Martin J et al
• Gabbiadini A ,
• Baldissarri C ,
• Durante F , et al
• Sommerlad A ,
• Marston L ,
• Huntley J , et al
• Turner RJ ,
• Bicchieri C
• Brennan G et al
• Watson-Jones RE ,
• Amichai-Hamburger Y ,
• McKenna KYA
• Page-Gould E ,
• Aron A , et al
• Pietromonaco PR ,
• Timmerman GM
• Bradbury-Jones C ,
• Mikocka-Walus A ,
• Klas A , et al
• Marshall L ,
• Steptoe A ,
• Stanley SM ,
• Campbell AM
• ↵ (ONS), O.f.N.S., Domestic abuse during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, England and Wales . Available: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/domesticabuseduringthecoronaviruscovid19pandemicenglandandwales/november2020
• Rosenberg M ,
• Hensel D , et al
• Banerjee D ,
• Bruner DW , et al
• Bavel JJV ,
• Baicker K ,
• Boggio PS , et al
• van Barneveld K ,
• Quinlan M ,
• Kriesler P , et al
• Mitchell R ,
• de Vries S , et al

Twitter @karenmaxSPHSU, @Mark_McCann, @Rwilsonlowe, @KMitchinGlasgow

Contributors EL and KM led on the manuscript conceptualisation, review and editing. SP, KM, CB, RBP, RL, MM, JR, KS and RW-L contributed to drafting and revising the article. All authors assisted in revising the final draft.

Funding The research reported in this publication was supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/1, MC_UU_00022/3) and the Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU11, SPHSU14). EL is also supported by MRC Skills Development Fellowship Award (MR/S015078/1). KS and MM are also supported by a Medical Research Council Strategic Award (MC_PC_13027).

Competing interests None declared.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Read the full text or download the PDF:

Family Coping During the Coronavirus

• Posted April 16, 2020
• By Jill Anderson

As the world navigates the current pandemic, there has been a dramatic increase in how much time families are spending together, leading many parents and caregivers to feel pressured into being everything — parent, friend, teacher — for their child. Child developmental psychologist Junlei Li says it doesn’t have to be that way — and families can look to China’s working families for examples of how to find balance and support through the isolation.

“Being with your children doesn’t have to be yet another stressor, but can offer a sense of relief, even for grownups,” Li says. “Parents feel a lot of burden. They are not used to being with their kids all this time, especially with young children. Parents can feel the pressure of having to accompany them this whole time. Instead of trying to be everything at all times, think about the small, even brief, kind of quality moments of play we can have with our children.”

Li participated in work that was led and organized by the child development and family support research center of the China Welfare Institute , which has helped families during that country’s nationwide quarantine. In an ongoing series of “corona-fighting family wisdoms,” the initiative solicited coping strategies from both urban and rural families, and shared out the stories.

We asked Li to share three of these lessons from China for American families to adopt as they face extended time at home during the coronavirus.

Find ways to connect and share within and beyond your family

Children can pick up on the stress being felt by their caregivers, Li says. The China Welfare Institute tried not to add to growing stress levels, and instead focused on simple efforts at home.

“Instead of going out and telling parents — here are the top 10 things you need to do for your kid — they asked for videos and photos submissions of things parents and children are doing together,” Li says. The organization solicited and shared stories from a diverse range of families, providing a glimpse of what support can look like. The outcome stressed the value of families being able to connect and better understand their role in children’s lives. Li suggests that all families should find similar ways to enjoy being with each other that relieve pressure for all members of the family.

“Children process and deal with these things right along with grownups,” Li says.

Emphasize play over learning  

Despite the reputation of Chinese culture for its dedication to academic learning, Li reports that the China Welfare Institute deviated from that ideal by placing a larger emphasis on play.

Play provides a way for children to process their emotions, says Li. “Part of the richness of play is — playing either alone or playing together with other children or with us, with the grownups — it can start to meet children's developmental need,” he says. “Children need a way to express their own uncertainty, handle anxiety, and assert control.”

Families should plan time to play every day without trying too hard to drive the experience. Children should take the lead in thinking about how they want to play, what they want to play, and whom they want to play with. Although many children have limited opportunity right now, Li says families can create the environment where children can match their needs through play. 

Find ways to create new modes of learning

Li witnessed many families in China take advantage of learning through observation and doing, which has long been a part in rural and indigenous communities where children are often active participants in family life.

He suggests finding simple ways to let your child pitch in. Consider when children demand what they want or don’t want to eat and take advantage of this time to let children take part in cooking. For example, have children come up with something they want to cook with their parents and then eat it.  

Li adds that young children, in particular, really like to help. “They feel really important if they can pitch in,” he says. “Right now it almost seems more doable because there is so much more time since we’re stuck at home so it’s easier to incorporate.”

Along the way, Li says it helps restore some sense of control and agency in children too. “You know, for children right now, it’s ‘I can’t go to school, I can’t go outside, I can’t go to the playground,’” he says, “I can’t play all the time. … There’s a lot of ‘I can’t, I can’t. I can’t.’ Finding family appropriate ways for children to pitch in can turn into a ‘I can do this.’”

Ultimately, these small adjustments can help the whole family as everyone gets used to differences in their daily lives.

“As adults we can have quite a bit of empathy. I think for once we're in a situation where we’re very similar to children. We're uncertain. We're anxious. We don't know when this ends,” Li says.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on the simple pleasures that additional family time provides.
• Take time for play.
• Find ways for children to contribute around the house.

Usable Knowledge

Connecting education research to practice — with timely insights for educators, families, and communities

Related Articles

Hope Amid Challenges in the COVID Era

Making a Smooth Transition

Q+ A: Janhvi Kanoria, Ed.M.’10

The Family Time the Pandemic Stole

O ver the course of Fourth of July weekend, my 4-year-old son stole his teenage cousin’s hat approximately 1,675 times. He did this about the same amount as he grabbed this cousin’s arm and yelled, “Got ya!” We were on a trip with my husband’s parents, his siblings, and their children, and I observed my kids as they swam, watched fireworks, dug in the sand, and generally messed with their older cousins. They were so comfortable with everyone, despite how infrequently we had gotten together over the past few years.

My family unit of four was on the stricter side when it came to COVID-19 precautions, and we had opted out of most group gatherings. We had taken this same trip for my mother-in-law’s birthday the year before, but it was at a dude ranch, all the activities were outdoors, and my husband and I had insisted that our group eat all our meals outside, even though every other family ate breakfast and dinner in the dining hall. We’d done our own thing for the Jewish holidays . We’d celebrated Thanksgiving with only my sister. We’d masked up for a socially distanced bar mitzvah ceremony, leaving our kids at home with a babysitter.

We were worried about the health risks posed by this new virus, especially as we waited for our kids to be vaccinated . Yes, we knew that kids tend to fare better than adults. No, statistics do not always bring comfort when you are making decisions about your own child’s health. But beyond that, we also wanted to avoid the disruptions that would result from a confirmed case. Our now-6-year-old finished pre-K remotely and spent much of kindergarten on a hybrid schedule, meaning he got a significant portion of his early instruction in critical skills like reading over the computer. We did not want him to miss more school than he had to. We also, as much as we love him, did not want our younger son home for 10 days, possibly more since a new positive test in our household could restart the clock. We needed to work, and it turns out children can get bored of TV .

Read More: How I Lost Myself to Motherhood

Doing my job from home, skipping parties, RSVP’ing no to weddings. None of it felt like a major sacrifice to me, or at least I couldn’t justify the participation weighed against the risks. To be fair, I am not someone who needs a lot of in-person interaction. I catch up with close friends when I see them, but even in non-pandemic times, I rely on the fact that we have a solid foundation and sometimes go for long stretches in between. The past few years, I’ve really burrowed into my introversion, finding relief in the hours spent alone in my apartment during the day, the aimless walks around my neighborhood at night. I also know that my children are not me and my older son somehow makes a friend every time he goes to the park.

Still, for all the talk of the very real isolation that children have experienced during the pandemic, I was not especially concerned about mine. We were fortunate to have consistent childcare for all but the first three exhausting months, so our kids spent nearly every weekday of the summer of 2020 in the park with their friends. We got to know families in the neighborhood and met for picnics and soccer. We layered with long underwear and ate under heat lamps when it got cold. Once vaccines became available for adults, we began seeing my sister, who lives nearby, and my in-laws indoors, and after we learned that breakthrough infections were not just possible but probable, we did not go back.

My parents came up from Texas in December 2020 to quarantine and test before seeing us and then returned at intervals after that. We tried to visit them too but got derailed twice—first when Delta made the trip too intimidating, then when my grandma and my older son separately contracted Omicron. Finally in February 2022 we got there. It had been more than two years since my kids had seen my grandparents, and my younger son did not remember being on a plane. (When I told him we would eat breakfast at the airport, he responded incredulously: “For real life?!”)

Read More: I Thought I’d Get to See My Mother Again. Then the Pandemic Hit

I thought we were doing OK. We drew the lines that made sense to us as we tried to strike a balance. I was tightly wound in the way most parents were and certainly the conditions were not ideal, but I kept thinking the kids, at least, were not missing much.

Now I’m a little less sure. This summer, the month after the trip with my husband’s family, we traveled to meet my parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins in Colorado. We stayed in a handful of units in the same condominium, and most of us were together for a full week. My kids got to meet their baby cousin, and they asked for her every morning as soon as they woke up. They enlisted family members for games of Candy Land and jumps on the wobbling bridge at the playground. They finally got everyone’s name straight after years of knowing some largely from photos. I watched my little one hold my 28-year-old cousin’s hand to cross a stream and my older one inspecting maps with my 86-year-old grandfather.

Perhaps it is simply vacation I’m romanticizing, or having more grown-ups around to entertain my kids, but I don’t think so. One day, as my younger son and I walked down the road, he told me he really likes our family. Several times, I looked over at my kids playing with my relatives, their relatives, forming their own bonds, and felt something that I rarely feel about being with other people: longing, the desire for more of this.

I don’t regret how my husband and I have behaved during the pandemic. We’ve done our best to take care of our kids in the face of a disease whose long-term effects are not yet fully understood. And as COVID-19 is very much not over, we are still trying to keep our exposures limited. But with our younger son finally vaccinated and these summer memories fresh in my mind, we are cracking open the door, just a little, to be around the people we love. Our kids are fine, but they also need this. We all do.

More Must-Reads from TIME

• Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
• Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone
• What to Do if You Can’t Afford Your Medications
• How to Buy Groceries Without Breaking the Bank
• Sienna Miller Is the Reason to Watch  Horizon
• Why So Many Bitcoin Mining Companies Are Pivoting to AI
• The 15 Best Movies to Watch on a Plane
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

• Fact sheets
• Facts in pictures
• Publications
• Questions and answers
• Tools and toolkits
• HIV and AIDS
• Hypertension
• Mental disorders
• Top 10 causes of death
• All countries
• Eastern Mediterranean
• South-East Asia
• Western Pacific
• Data by country
• Country presence 
• Country strengthening 
• Country cooperation strategies 
• News releases
• Feature stories
• Press conferences
• Commentaries
• Photo library
• Afghanistan
• Cholera 
• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
• Greater Horn of Africa
• Israel and occupied Palestinian territory
• Disease Outbreak News
• Situation reports
• Weekly Epidemiological Record
• Surveillance
• Health emergency appeal
• International Health Regulations
• Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee
• Classifications
• Data collections
• Global Health Estimates
• Mortality Database
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Health Inequality Monitor
• Global Progress
• Data collection tools
• Global Health Observatory
• Insights and visualizations
• COVID excess deaths
• World Health Statistics
• Partnerships
• Committees and advisory groups
• Collaborating centres
• Technical teams
• Organizational structure
• Initiatives
• General Programme of Work
• WHO Academy
• Investment in WHO
• WHO Foundation
• External audit
• Financial statements
• Internal audit and investigations 
• Programme Budget
• Results reports
• Governing bodies
• World Health Assembly
• Executive Board
• Member States Portal

Impact of COVID-19 on people's livelihoods, their health and our food systems

Joint statement by ilo, fao, ifad and who.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating: tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase by up to 132 million by the end of the year.

Millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods. Informal economy workers are particularly vulnerable because the majority lack social protection and access to quality health care and have lost access to productive assets. Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many are unable to feed themselves and their families. For most, no income means no food, or, at best, less food and less nutritious food. 

The pandemic has been affecting the entire food system and has laid bare its fragility. Border closures, trade restrictions and confinement measures have been preventing farmers from accessing markets, including for buying inputs and selling their produce, and agricultural workers from harvesting crops, thus disrupting domestic and international food supply chains and reducing access to healthy, safe and diverse diets. The pandemic has decimated jobs and placed millions of livelihoods at risk. As breadwinners lose jobs, fall ill and die, the food security and nutrition of millions of women and men are under threat, with those in low-income countries, particularly the most marginalized populations, which include small-scale farmers and indigenous peoples, being hardest hit.

Millions of agricultural workers – waged and self-employed – while feeding the world, regularly face high levels of working poverty, malnutrition and poor health, and suffer from a lack of safety and labour protection as well as other types of abuse. With low and irregular incomes and a lack of social support, many of them are spurred to continue working, often in unsafe conditions, thus exposing themselves and their families to additional risks. Further, when experiencing income losses, they may resort to negative coping strategies, such as distress sale of assets, predatory loans or child labour. Migrant agricultural workers are particularly vulnerable, because they face risks in their transport, working and living conditions and struggle to access support measures put in place by governments. Guaranteeing the safety and health of all agri-food workers – from primary producers to those involved in food processing, transport and retail, including street food vendors – as well as better incomes and protection, will be critical to saving lives and protecting public health, people’s livelihoods and food security.

In the COVID-19 crisis food security, public health, and employment and labour issues, in particular workers’ health and safety, converge. Adhering to workplace safety and health practices and ensuring access to decent work and the protection of labour rights in all industries will be crucial in addressing the human dimension of the crisis. Immediate and purposeful action to save lives and livelihoods should include extending social protection towards universal health coverage and income support for those most affected. These include workers in the informal economy and in poorly protected and low-paid jobs, including youth, older workers, and migrants. Particular attention must be paid to the situation of women, who are over-represented in low-paid jobs and care roles. Different forms of support are key, including cash transfers, child allowances and healthy school meals, shelter and food relief initiatives, support for employment retention and recovery, and financial relief for businesses, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. In designing and implementing such measures it is essential that governments work closely with employers and workers.

Countries dealing with existing humanitarian crises or emergencies are particularly exposed to the effects of COVID-19. Responding swiftly to the pandemic, while ensuring that humanitarian and recovery assistance reaches those most in need, is critical.

Now is the time for global solidarity and support, especially with the most vulnerable in our societies, particularly in the emerging and developing world. Only together can we overcome the intertwined health and social and economic impacts of the pandemic and prevent its escalation into a protracted humanitarian and food security catastrophe, with the potential loss of already achieved development gains.

We must recognize this opportunity to build back better, as noted in the Policy Brief issued by the United Nations Secretary-General. We are committed to pooling our expertise and experience to support countries in their crisis response measures and efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We need to develop long-term sustainable strategies to address the challenges facing the health and agri-food sectors. Priority should be given to addressing underlying food security and malnutrition challenges, tackling rural poverty, in particular through more and better jobs in the rural economy, extending social protection to all, facilitating safe migration pathways and promoting the formalization of the informal economy.

We must rethink the future of our environment and tackle climate change and environmental degradation with ambition and urgency. Only then can we protect the health, livelihoods, food security and nutrition of all people, and ensure that our ‘new normal’ is a better one.

Media Contacts

Kimberly Chriscaden

Communications Officer World Health Organization

Nutrition and Food Safety (NFS) and COVID-19

• Open access
• Published: 30 November 2020

Family perspectives of COVID-19 research

• Shelley M. Vanderhout 1 ,
• Catherine S. Birken 2 ,
• Peter Wong 3 ,
• Sarah Kelleher 4 ,
• Shannon Weir 4 &
• Jonathon L. Maguire 1 , 5  

Research Involvement and Engagement volume  6 , Article number:  69 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

186k Accesses

19 Citations

3 Altmetric

Metrics details

The COVID-19 pandemic has uniquely affected children and families by disrupting routines, changing relationships and roles, and altering usual child care, school and recreational activities. Understanding the way families experience these changes from parents’ perspectives may help to guide research on the effects of COVID-19 among children.

As a multidisciplinary team of child health researchers, we assembled a group of nine parents to identify concerns, raise questions, and voice perspectives to inform COVID-19 research for children and families. Parents provided a range of insightful perspectives, ideas for research questions, and reflections on their experiences during the pandemic.

Including parents as partners in early stages of COVID-19 research helped determine priorities, led to more feasible data collection methods, and hopefully has improved the relevance, applicability and value of research findings to parents and children.

Peer Review reports

Plain English summary

Understanding the physical, mental, and emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for children and families will help to guide approaches to support families and children during the pandemic and after. As a team of child health researchers in Toronto, Canada, we assembled a group of parents and clinician researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify concerns, raise questions, and voice perspectives to inform COVID-19 research for children and families. Parents were eager to share their experience of shifting roles, priorities, and routines during the pandemic, and were instrumental in guiding research priorities and methods to understand of the effects of COVID-19 on families. First-hand experience that parents have in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic with their families contributed to collaborative relationships between researchers and research participants, helped orient research about COVID-19 in children around family priorities, and offered valuable perspectives for the development of guidelines for safe return to school and childcare. Partnerships between researchers and families in designing and delivering COVID-19 research may lead to a better understanding of how health research can best support children and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Children and families have been uniquely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While children appear to experience milder symptoms from COVID-19 infection than older individuals [ 1 ], sudden changes in routines, resources, and relationships as a result of restrictions on physical interaction have resulted in major impacts on families with young children. In the absence of school, child care, extra-curricular activities and family gatherings, children’s social and support networks have been broadly disrupted. Stress from COVID-19 has been compounded by additional responsibilities for parents as they adapt to their new roles as educators and playmates while balancing full-time caregiving with their own stressful changes to work, financial and social situations. On the contrary, families with greater parental support and perceived control have had less perceived stress during COVID-19 [ 2 ].

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly sparked research activity across the globe. Patient and family voices are increasingly considered essential to research agenda and priority setting [ 3 ]. Understanding the physical, mental, and emotional consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for families will inform approaches to support parents and children during the pandemic and after. In this unusual time, patient and family voices can be valuable in informing health research priorities, study designs, implementation plans and knowledge translation strategies that directly affect them [ 4 ].

As a multidisciplinary team of child health researchers with expertise in general paediatrics, nutrition and mental health, we assembled a group of nine parents to identify concerns, raise questions, and voice perspectives to inform COVID-19 research for children and families. Parents were recruited from the TARGet Kids! primary care research network [ 5 ], which is a collaboration between applied health researchers at the SickKids and St. Michael’s Hospitals, primary care providers from the Departments of Pediatrics and Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, and families. Parents were contacted by email and invited to voluntary meetings on April 7 and 23, 2020 via Zoom [ 6 ] for 3 h. In an unstructured discussion, we asked how parents imagined research about COVID-19 could make an impact on child and family well-being. Parents were encouraged to share their lived experience and perspectives on the anticipated effects of COVID-19 and social distancing policies on their children and families, and opinions to inform how research on child mental and physical health during and after the pandemic could best be conducted. Parents had opportunities to review proposed data collection tools such as smartphone apps and serology testing devices, and provided feedback about the feasibility and meaningfulness of each. Content, frequency and organization of questionnaires were also reviewed by parents to ensure they were appropriate in length and feasible to complete.

Parent perspectives

Parents were optimistic that research would provide an understanding of the effects of COVID-19 on families and deliver solutions to minimize negative effects and bolster positive effects. Parents wondered about several questions which they hoped research would answer including: What will be the effects of physical distancing and disrupted routines for my children? How can I help my children develop healthy coping habits? How can I appropriately talk about the virus with my children? What factors might predict resiliency against negative effects of the pandemic among children and families, and how can these be strengthened?

Parents speculated what risks children might face as a result of schoolwork transitioning to home, educational activities provided online, child care being limited or unavailable, social relationships changing, sports and extra-curricular activities being cancelled, and stress and anxiety increasing at home. Some parents reflected on feeling some relief from not having to coordinate usual extracurricular activities. However, they expressed frustration in finding high quality educational activities and resources to support physical and mental health for their children during physical isolation. Parents voiced a need for a centralized, accessible hub with peer reviewed, high quality resources to keep children entertained and supported while spending more time indoors, away from usual activities and school. They hoped for resources to help families adjust to new routines and roles, as well as answer children’s questions in truthful ways that would not increase anxiety.

Parents were curious about studying the impact of COVID-19 on children and families. How would researchers use information about children who are affected physically, mentally, or socially by the pandemic? What could be the possible implications of testing for COVID-19 on social relationships and parents’ employment? This question generated discussion about difficult positions families of lower socio-economic status, who may need to maintain attendance at work but have a suspected COVID-19 infected household member. Would health and social care for children going forward reflect the unique ways they had been impacted by changes in their daily routines and relationships? How can families return to school and everyday routines with a minimum of disruption? What will be done to prepare children and families for emergency situations in the future? Considering these questions may lead child health researchers to study relevant and contemporary concepts to families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When presented with options to include more measures on other family members, parents maintained that the focus of our COVID-19 research should be on children. Parents provided essential feedback about the length and frequency of questionnaires, to ensure they were appropriate given the limited time available for completing them. Parent involvement early in the research process helped to direct research priorities, informed data collection strategies and hopefully has increased the relevance of research conducted for children and families. Conducting a follow-up meeting with parents was important to understand shifting concerns and ensure data collection was reflecting current routines, habits and policies affecting families.

Conclusions

As researchers who are seeking to understand the impact of COVID-19 on children and families, we felt it important to involve families in designing and implementing new research. First-hand experience that parents have in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic with their children contributed to co-building between researchers and research participants. Parents were generous with their time and provided insightful, honest suggestions for how researchers could create knowledge that would be directly relevant to them. Next steps will include expanding our dialogue with a more diverse group of parents in terms of gender, as all parents in our meetings were women, and ethnicity to better represent the diversity of Toronto. Other researchers conducting COVID-19 research among children and families may consider engaging parents and caregivers in preliminary stages to identify priorities, understand lived experiences and help guide all stages of the research process. This presents value in focusing research on the most important priorities for families and developing data collection methods which are feasible in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic is dynamic, ongoing communication between researchers and parents to understand changing perspectives and concerns is important to respond to family needs. We hope that ongoing partnerships between parents and researchers will promote leadership among parents as co-investigators in COVID-19 research, and result in research which addresses the needs of parents and children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ideally, engaging with families in COVID-19 research will result in findings that will be valuable to families, assist them in developing collective resilience, and provide a foundation for family-oriented research throughout the COVD-19 pandemic and beyond.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Lee PI, Hu YL, Chen PY, Huang YC, Hsueh PR. Are children less susceptible to COVID-19? J Microbiol Immunol Infect. 2020;53(3):371.

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Brown SM, Doom JR, Lechuga-Pena S, Watamura SE, Koppels T. Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Child Abuse Negl. 2020;1:104699.

Article   Google Scholar  

Manafo E, Petermann L, Vandall-Walker V, Mason-Lai P. Patient and public engagement in priority setting: a systematic rapid review of the literature. PLoS One. 2018;13(3):e0193579.

Strategy for Patient Oriented Research. Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research - Patient Engagement Framework.  http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48413.html-a7 . Published 2019. Accessed 2020.

Carsley S, Borkhoff CM, Maguire JL, et al. Cohort profile: the applied research Group for Kids (TARGet kids!). Int J Epidemiol. 2014;44(3):776.

Zoom [computer program]. Version 2.0.02020.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the TARGet Kids! Parent And Clinician Team for their generous contribution of time and participation in discussions about COVID-19 in children and families.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

There is no funding source for this paper.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 209 Victoria St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1T8, Canada

Shelley M. Vanderhout & Jonathon L. Maguire

Division of Paediatric Medicine and the Paediatric Outcomes Research Team, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada

Catherine S. Birken

Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research & Learning, 686 Bay Street, 11th floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada

Patient partners, Toronto, Canada

Sarah Kelleher & Shannon Weir

Toronto, Canada

Jonathon L. Maguire

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Shelley Vanderhout, Catherine Birken, Peter Wong, Shannon Weir, Sarah Kelleher and Jonathon Maguire participated in the concept and design, drafting and revising of the manuscript. All authors approved the manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathon L. Maguire .

Ethics declarations

Consent for publication, competing interests.

The authors have no competing interest to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Vanderhout, S.M., Birken, C.S., Wong, P. et al. Family perspectives of COVID-19 research. Res Involv Engagem 6 , 69 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-020-00242-1

Download citation

Received : 18 August 2020

Accepted : 24 November 2020

Published : 30 November 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-020-00242-1

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Research Involvement and Engagement

ISSN: 2056-7529

• General enquiries: [email protected]

Parenting in a pandemic: How to develop stronger family relationships during  COVID-19

Assistant Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, Associate Member, Department of Psychiatry, and Director of Childhood Anxiety and Regulations of Emotions (C.A.R.E.) Research Group, McGill University

Disclosure statement

Tina Montreuil has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), les Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC), Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature et technologie (FRQNT), the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (Mi4), McGill Social Sciences and Humanities Development Grants, and Le Récit.

McGill University provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA.

McGill University provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

View all partners

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected us. It has increased our worries and concerns about physical health . COVID-19 has added to the existing challenges parents face, and has also created greater awareness surrounding the fragility of mental health.

Yet, the second wave has also paved the way for a larger discussion on ways to promote mental well-being .

As a researcher and a clinical psychologist, I lead a research group that investigates how emotion regulation, values and beliefs affect the development and inter-generational transmission of mental or behavioural disorders, and how these problems can impact educational achievement.

The Childhood Anxiety and Regulation of Emotions (C.A.R.E.) research group has developed a school-based program as well as a parenting program , both of which teach core coping skills that have been associated with resilience. Resilience is the capacity for an individual to remain engaged, available and optimistic instead of withdrawn, overwhelmed and defeated when faced with hardship and adversity.

Our research group believes that when parents are aware of their own emotional self-regulation, and when they can find space to structure meaningful family activities that promote mutual bonding, both they and their children are in a better position to learn core coping skills that will benefit individuals and family relationships.

Impact of the pandemic on family life

A recent report by the Australian Human Rights Commission investigated COVID-19-related concerns experienced by children aged five and older and emerging adults from January to April 2020. The report suggested that “mental health concerns resulting from COVID-19” and “impacts on family life” were among the top five concerns endorsed by youth.

Similarly, a July 2020 Statistics Canada report revealed three out of four parents experienced concerns and worries about balancing child care, their child’s schooling and their own professional work irrespective of the child’s age. More than half of parents surveyed reported greater difficulty managing their child’s emotions as well as their own.

The arising parenting challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may represent an opportune time for us to improve our resilience and model more adaptive strategies and skills. In turn, such skills can promote the development of resilient behaviours in our children.

Read more: How to build children's resilience, and your own, amid coronavirus unknowns

As the picture below illustrates, not everyone reacts in the same way to a given situation. The ability to manage strong negative emotions and shift our mindset to a more adaptive perspective can be developed at any age. Since our brain is most adept at performing a new task early in life, it’s most beneficial for people to become socialized in these fundamental life skills early. This will help children to become self-regulated, adaptive and thriving adults.

Parental emotions

Findings from our research group’s recent study , conducted with mothers, suggest that parents’ abilities to regulate their own emotions predicted how frequently and effectively they rely on supportive parenting practices. Supportive practices are things like comforting children when they experience negative emotions; engaging in problem-solving strategies aimed at reducing children’s distress; and discussing children’s emotional experiences with them. As such, these results suggest that supportive parenting is associated with children who are better at managing difficult emotions.

We also found that invalidating children’s emotional expression or ignoring or dismissing the child’s emotions contributed to poorer emotion regulation skills in children , and that such less-supportive parenting practices were linked to anxiety in adulthood. When parents themselves match or exceed their child’s emotions, they also offer less adaptive emotional coaching.

Parents may have heard the airplane safety tip to always don one’s own oxygen mask before helping a child: the same applies with emotional regulation. As parents, when we prioritize managing our own stress, tolerating greater uncertainty and engaging in self-care activities like exercise, good sleep hygiene and relaxation, this expands our capacity to respond calmly. This teaches our children that they too can cope and manage stress and related threats .

Supportive parenting is best achieved when a connected, caring and responsive relationship with children is fostered early on. Supportive parenting that builds resilience is comparable to an early investment that grows with time. It is key to create as many early positive and reinforcing experiences as possible.

Failure: An opportunity for growth

Parenting is difficult and striving for perfection is unrealistic and unattainable. We can instead chose to model that mistakes and failures can be a renewed opportunity for growth. Raising resilient children means that we value teaching them self-compassion, gratitude, delayed gratification and self worth to leverage life experiences that facilitate the development of their sense of purpose.

It is as critical for parents to value teaching children these core social emotional skills, just as much as we might encourage them to become expert swimmers or gifted mathematicians.

When supportive parenting and strong family relationships consistently provide opportunities to strengthen coping skills and the ability to regulate emotions, these are also opportunities for children to become skilled at accepting hardship and remaining committed toward achievement. Supportive parental practices contribute to children’s long-term healthy emotional and psychological development.

Parents can help their children develop these key social-emotional abilities in a variety of ways.

As a first step, parents should evaluate whether their own emotional and psychological needs are met and do their best to find, advocate for or create structures or supports to meet these. In return, they may gain the capacity to model these adaptive behaviours.

Parents can learn more about core coping skills like emotional regulation . This includes the ability to pay attention to and accept (not judge) our emotions, to label and differentiate emotions. It also means understanding varying levels of emotional intensity, to learn how to tolerate and be open to the experience of distressing emotions and to control our emotions by changing how we think about the situation at hand. Mindfulness and problem solving can also be easily taught through interactive read-along activities and lessons.

Regardless of a family’s structure, parents can improve family relationships and connectedness. They can do this by dedicating common time for the family members to congregate and bond with one another through activities like meal time, game or movie night and outdoor or sport activities.

Parents can work on identifying mutual family values through activities like developing a values coat of arms . Identifying mutual values can be useful when seeking to carve out time spent together based on identified commonalities and shared interests.

Adversity creates accidental opportunities to build skills to endure ongoing or future hardship. This is the essence of resilience: accepting that a door has closed behind us, and being optimistic about what awaits. By being more emotionally and mentally grounded as parents, parents can lead collectively stronger families. Let’s stay strong together!

• Mental health
• Adolescents
• Coronavirus
• Emotional regulation
• Family health
• Family relationships

PhD Scholarship

Senior Lecturer, HRM or People Analytics

Senior Research Fellow - Neuromuscular Disorders and Gait Analysis

Centre Director, Transformative Media Technologies

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Writing about COVID-19 in a college admission essay

by: Venkates Swaminathan | Updated: September 14, 2020

Print article

For students applying to college using the CommonApp, there are several different places where students and counselors can address the pandemic’s impact. The different sections have differing goals. You must understand how to use each section for its appropriate use.

The CommonApp COVID-19 question

First, the CommonApp this year has an additional question specifically about COVID-19 :

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. Please use this space to describe how these events have impacted you.

This question seeks to understand the adversity that students may have had to face due to the pandemic, the move to online education, or the shelter-in-place rules. You don’t have to answer this question if the impact on you wasn’t particularly severe. Some examples of things students should discuss include:

• The student or a family member had COVID-19 or suffered other illnesses due to confinement during the pandemic.
• The candidate had to deal with personal or family issues, such as abusive living situations or other safety concerns
• The student suffered from a lack of internet access and other online learning challenges.
• Students who dealt with problems registering for or taking standardized tests and AP exams.

Jeff Schiffman of the Tulane University admissions office has a blog about this section. He recommends students ask themselves several questions as they go about answering this section:

• Are my experiences different from others’?
• Are there noticeable changes on my transcript?
• Am I aware of my privilege?
• Am I specific? Am I explaining rather than complaining?
• Is this information being included elsewhere on my application?

If you do answer this section, be brief and to-the-point.

Counselor recommendations and school profiles

Second, counselors will, in their counselor forms and school profiles on the CommonApp, address how the school handled the pandemic and how it might have affected students, specifically as it relates to:

• Grading scales and policies
• Graduation requirements
• Instructional methods
• Schedules and course offerings
• Testing requirements
• Your academic calendar
• Other extenuating circumstances

Students don’t have to mention these matters in their application unless something unusual happened.

Writing about COVID-19 in your main essay

Write about your experiences during the pandemic in your main college essay if your experience is personal, relevant, and the most important thing to discuss in your college admission essay. That you had to stay home and study online isn’t sufficient, as millions of other students faced the same situation. But sometimes, it can be appropriate and helpful to write about something related to the pandemic in your essay. For example:

• One student developed a website for a local comic book store. The store might not have survived without the ability for people to order comic books online. The student had a long-standing relationship with the store, and it was an institution that created a community for students who otherwise felt left out.
• One student started a YouTube channel to help other students with academic subjects he was very familiar with and began tutoring others.
• Some students used their extra time that was the result of the stay-at-home orders to take online courses pursuing topics they are genuinely interested in or developing new interests, like a foreign language or music.

Experiences like this can be good topics for the CommonApp essay as long as they reflect something genuinely important about the student. For many students whose lives have been shaped by this pandemic, it can be a critical part of their college application.

Want more? Read 6 ways to improve a college essay , What the &%$! should I write about in my college essay , and Just how important is a college admissions essay? .

Homes Nearby

Homes for rent and sale near schools

How our schools are (and aren't) addressing race

The truth about homework in America

What should I write my college essay about?

What the #%@!& should I write about in my college essay?

Yes! Sign me up for updates relevant to my child's grade.

Please enter a valid email address

Thank you for signing up!

Server Issue: Please try again later. Sorry for the inconvenience

• High contrast
• Representative
• Work for UNICEF
• Press centre

Search UNICEF

Things we learned to appreciate more during covid-19 lockdown, curfews helped tomislav’s family appreciate the value of living in an intergenerational household and spending quality time together.

• Available in:

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is of a scale most people alive today have never seen. Lockdowns and curfews to contain the spread of the virus impacted the way children learn, the way their families earn a living, and how safe they feel in their homes and communities. Despite the ongoing threat, countries around the world are starting to lift restrictions. As we question whether we will ever go back to what we once knew to be “normal”, its worth taken a step back to see how we can build on what we have learned to build back a better world for children.

As a journalist, UNICEF photographer Tomislav Georgiev was one of the rare professionals with a permit to go out during the curfews and capture images of the deserted streets of the capital. But he discovered that in times like this, the most valuable images can be found closer to home. He turned his lenses from the outside world to capture photos of his own family with a loving eye. In a household where four generations live together, Tomislav captured scenes of play, family celebrations, sharing, exploring and learning new skills.

“I realized that no matter how much time we think we have; at the end of the day, what I came to appreciate was that we simply don’t spend enough quality time with our families,” says Tomislav.

Days in lockdown were an opportunity for children to reinvent ways of play and learning,  exploring their immediate environment and making the most of what they had available. Building resilience in children is one way we help them to cope in difficult moments.

Curfews were also a time to help children learn responsibility and their role in contributing in   our own way to find a solution to collective problems. “The silent understanding of my children was simply astonishing. We stay home, no questions asked, no demands to go and play with friends. Their lives have completely changed, yet they seem to grasp the importance of their contribution better than most adults,” says Tomislav.

During curfews many learned about the importance of being creative with the scarce resources and limited physical space they had at home. Also, many came to appreciate that small acts of kindness and gratitude to other family members helps to boost emotional wellbeing.

Some even learned new skills but what matters most is learning to appreciate the emotional connections made between different generations.  Its these connections that help us to develop the emotional resilience’s we need to get through stressful times.

“It is true – this crisis has taken its toll on humanity. However, it also provided an opportunity for generations to unite and perhaps begun to shape our younger generations to think differently about their own individual roles and how we as individuals can all contribute in our own way to find a solution to collective problems,” says Tomislav.

UNICEF remains committed to its mission to provide essential support, protection and information as well as hope of a brighter day for every child. UNICEF stands united with one clear promise to the world: we will get through this together, for every child .

Related topics

More to explore, 10 playful activities for children with disabilities.

Fun at-home moments for learning

Ministry of Health, USAID, UNICEF and WHO launch “Protected Together – Vaccines Work” Information and Vaccination Caravan

Children cannot afford prolonged disruptions to learning

COVID-19 vaccine caravan brings information and vaccines closer to citizens

One Student's Perspective on Life During a Pandemic

• Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
• Ethics Resources
• Ethics Spotlight
• COVID-19: Ethics, Health and Moving Forward

The pandemic and resulting shelter-in-place restrictions are affecting everyone in different ways. Tiana Nguyen, shares both the pros and cons of her experience as a student at Santa Clara University.

person sitting at table with open laptop, notebook and pen

Tiana Nguyen ‘21 is a Hackworth Fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. She is majoring in Computer Science, and is the vice president of Santa Clara University’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) chapter .

The world has slowed down, but stress has begun to ramp up.

In the beginning of quarantine, as the world slowed down, I could finally take some time to relax, watch some shows, learn to be a better cook and baker, and be more active in my extracurriculars. I have a lot of things to be thankful for. I especially appreciate that I’m able to live in a comfortable house and have gotten the opportunity to spend more time with my family. This has actually been the first time in years in which we’re all able to even eat meals together every single day. Even when my brother and I were young, my parents would be at work and sometimes come home late, so we didn’t always eat meals together. In the beginning of the quarantine I remember my family talking about how nice it was to finally have meals together, and my brother joking, “it only took a pandemic to bring us all together,” which I laughed about at the time (but it’s the truth).

Soon enough, we’ll all be back to going to different places and we’ll be separated once again. So I’m thankful for my living situation right now. As for my friends, even though we’re apart, I do still feel like I can be in touch with them through video chat—maybe sometimes even more in touch than before. I think a lot of people just have a little more time for others right now.

Although there are still a lot of things to be thankful for, stress has slowly taken over, and work has been overwhelming. I’ve always been a person who usually enjoys going to classes, taking on more work than I have to, and being active in general. But lately I’ve felt swamped with the amount of work given, to the point that my days have blurred into online assignments, Zoom classes, and countless meetings, with a touch of baking sweets and aimless searching on Youtube.

The pass/no pass option for classes continues to stare at me, but I look past it every time to use this quarter as an opportunity to boost my grades. I've tried to make sense of this type of overwhelming feeling that I’ve never really felt before. Is it because I’m working harder and putting in more effort into my schoolwork with all the spare time I now have? Is it because I’m not having as much interaction with other people as I do at school? Or is it because my classes this quarter are just supposed to be this much harder? I honestly don’t know; it might not even be any of those. What I do know though, is that I have to continue work and push through this feeling.

This quarter I have two synchronous and two asynchronous classes, which each have pros and cons. Originally, I thought I wanted all my classes to be synchronous, since that everyday interaction with my professor and classmates is valuable to me. However, as I experienced these asynchronous classes, I’ve realized that it can be nice to watch a lecture on my own time because it even allows me to pause the video to give me extra time for taking notes. This has made me pay more attention during lectures and take note of small details that I might have missed otherwise. Furthermore, I do realize that synchronous classes can also be a burden for those abroad who have to wake up in the middle of the night just to attend a class. I feel that it’s especially unfortunate when professors want students to attend but don’t make attendance mandatory for this reason; I find that most abroad students attend anyway, driven by the worry they’ll be missing out on something.

I do still find synchronous classes amazing though, especially for discussion-based courses. I feel in touch with other students from my classes whom I wouldn’t otherwise talk to or regularly reach out to. Since Santa Clara University is a small school, it is especially easy to interact with one another during classes on Zoom, and I even sometimes find it less intimidating to participate during class through Zoom than in person. I’m honestly not the type to participate in class, but this quarter I found myself participating in some classes more than usual. The breakout rooms also create more interaction, since we’re assigned to random classmates, instead of whomever we’re sitting closest to in an in-person class—though I admit breakout rooms can sometimes be awkward.

Something that I find beneficial in both synchronous and asynchronous classes is that professors post a lecture recording that I can always refer to whenever I want. I found this especially helpful when I studied for my midterms this quarter; it’s nice to have a recording to look back upon in case I missed something during a lecture.

Overall, life during these times is substantially different from anything most of us have ever experienced, and at times it can be extremely overwhelming and stressful—especially in terms of school for me. Online classes don’t provide the same environment and interactions as in-person classes and are by far not as enjoyable. But at the end of the day, I know that in every circumstance there is always something to be thankful for, and I’m appreciative for my situation right now. While the world has slowed down and my stress has ramped up, I’m slowly beginning to adjust to it.

How COVID-19 pandemic changed my life

Table of Contents

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest challenges that our world has ever faced. People around the globe were affected in some way by this terrible disease, whether personally or not. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many people felt isolated and in a state of panic. They often found themselves lacking a sense of community, confidence, and trust. The health systems in many countries were able to successfully prevent and treat people with COVID-19-related diseases while providing early intervention services to those who may not be fully aware that they are infected (Rume & Islam, 2020). Personally, this pandemic has brought numerous changes and challenges to my life. The COVID-19 pandemic affected my social, academic, and economic lifestyle positively and negatively.

Social and Academic Changes

One of the changes brought by the pandemic was economic changes that occurred very drastically (Haleem, Javaid, & Vaishya, 2020). During the pandemic, food prices started to rise, affecting the amount of money my parents could spend on goods and services. We had to reduce the food we bought as our budgets were stretched. My family also had to eliminate unhealthy food bought in bulk, such as crisps and chocolate bars. Furthermore, the pandemic made us more aware of the importance of keeping our homes clean, especially regarding cooking food. Lastly, it also made us more aware of how we talked to other people when they were ill and stayed home with them rather than being out and getting on with other things.

Furthermore, COVID-19 had a significant effect on my academic life. Immediately, measures to curb the pandemic were announced, such as closing all learning institutions in the country; my school life changed. The change began when our school implemented the online education system to ensure that we continued with our education during the lockdown period. At first, this affected me negatively because when learning was not happening in a formal environment, I struggled academically since I was not getting the face-to-face interaction with the teachers I needed. Furthermore, forcing us to attend online caused my classmates and me to feel disconnected from the knowledge being taught because we were unable to have peer participation in class. However, as the pandemic subsided, we grew accustomed to this learning mode. We realized the effects on our performance and learning satisfaction were positive, as it seemed to promote emotional and behavioral changes necessary to function in a virtual world. Students who participated in e-learning during the pandemic developed more ownership of the course requirement, increased their emotional intelligence and self-awareness, improved their communication skills, and learned to work together as a community.

If there is an area that the pandemic affected was the mental health of my family and myself. The COVID-19 pandemic caused increased anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns that were difficult for my family and me to manage alone. Our ability to learn social resilience skills, such as self-management, was tested numerous times. One of the most visible challenges we faced was social isolation and loneliness. The multiple lockdowns made it difficult to interact with my friends and family, leading to loneliness. The changes in communication exacerbated the problem as interactions moved from face-to-face to online communication using social media and text messages. Furthermore, having family members and loved ones separated from us due to distance, unavailability of phones, and the internet created a situation of fear among us, as we did not know whether they were all right. Moreover, some people within my circle found it more challenging to communicate with friends, family, and co-workers due to poor communication skills. This was mainly attributed to anxiety or a higher risk of spreading the disease. It was also related to a poor understanding of creating and maintaining relationships during this period.

Positive Changes

In addition, this pandemic has brought some positive changes with it. First, it had been a significant catalyst for strengthening relationships and neighborhood ties. It has encouraged a sense of community because family members, neighbors, friends, and community members within my area were all working together to help each other out. Before the pandemic, everybody focused on their business, the children going to school while the older people went to work. There was not enough time to bond with each other. Well, the pandemic changed that, something that has continued until now that everything is returning to normal. In our home, it strengthened the relationship between myself and my siblings and parents. This is because we started spending more time together as a family, which enhanced our sense of understanding of ourselves.

The pandemic has been a challenging time for many people. I can confidently state that it was a significant and potentially unprecedented change in our daily life. By changing how we do things and relate with our family and friends, the pandemic has shaped our future life experiences and shown that during crises, we can come together and make a difference in each other’s lives. Therefore, I embrace wholesomely the changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in my life.

• Haleem, A., Javaid, M., & Vaishya, R. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 pandemic in daily life.  Current medicine research and practice ,  10 (2), 78.
• Rume, T., & Islam, S. D. U. (2020). Environmental effects of COVID-19 pandemic and potential strategies of sustainability.  Heliyon ,  6 (9), e04965.
• ☠️ Assisted Suicide
• Affordable Care Act
• Breast Cancer
• Genetic Engineering

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Our Pandemic Puppy Brought Pure Joy. Losing Him, Pure Heartbreak.

By Margaret Renkl

Ms. Renkl is a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South.

The first good thing about Rascal was his wiggling, leaping “You’re awake!” greeting at the start of every day. My husband loves me, and my children love me, but not one human being has ever been as glad to see me as that buoyant little dog was every single morning of his life in our house.

Rascal was born to be airborne. For a creature with severe intervertebral disc disease, that kind of leaping is a disastrous risk. We tried at first to limit the danger — carried him down steps, closed doors to keep him off the beds, piled sofas high with items he couldn’t easily scale. No such efforts ever worked. Because the second good thing about Rascal was his irrepressible joy.

There is no gratitude like the gratitude of an animal rescued from a life of pain and fear and hunger. Rascal’s refusal to go on a walk with any house sitter told me he had never forgotten being a frightened stray scooped up from the Nashville streets by Metro Animal Control. The third good thing about Rascal was his undimmed delight in what may have been the first real home he ever had.

For this little rescue dog, home was at once a playground and a sanctuary. He turned bed making into a wrestling match with the covers. He turned laundry folding into a game of keep-away, and then a game of tug of war.

But even more than he loved erupting into play, he loved settling into ceremony. At our house, the workday was obliged to begin with lap time, coffee and a book, and to end with lap time, peppermint tea and a book. If I ever tried to skip one of these sacraments, sitting down too early at my desk or staying there too late, he would lick my feet until I remembered where I was supposed to be. The fourth and fifth good things about Rascal were the way he turned household tasks into games, and happy times into rituals.

Really, could there ever be a sweeter way for a dog to tell his person, “It’s time for our walk” or “I need to pee” or “You forgot to snuggle with me while you drink your coffee”? Sweetness was the sixth good thing about Rascal.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .