About this Research Topic

Background

The COVID‐19 outbreak paralyzed the whole world. The direct and indirect effects of the pandemic range from worse individuals’ health to financial defeat on both personal and societal levels. Children and youths have a lower likelihood of becoming infected, yet they have been affected by extreme and sustained shifts toward social and educational distancing.

On top of that, many have seen their lives drastically turned due to parents’ loss of work and income. Parents might feel worried about contracting Covid-19, losing their job or not being able to keep up with the family routines, whereas children can be sensitive to abrupt changes in the daily communication within the family and react differently to these changes.

The goal of the Research Topic is to highlight the effect that closure of educational institutions and organized leisure activities, as well as, parents changed working conditions and other changes in the life of children and youth due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 has had on children and youth, parents and family life in general. Furthermore, we aim to illustrate the diverse ways in which the different parties recognize their own resources and if and how they can adhere to the uncertainty of the situation. Finally, we want to highlight the individual impact as well as personal considerations about the role of family and society.

We welcome Original Research studies and Topic-relevant literature Reviews on the following subtopics:

• The experiences and/or the effects of social distancing on children, youth and parents;
• The experiences and/or the effects of changes in educational settings;
• Family relationships, family conflicts and within-family support;
• The effect of parents’ job loss on family life;
• The experiences and/or effects on youths’ peer relations;
• Experiences of loneliness and emotional distress related to the pandemic;
• Interventions related to children, youth, families and the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: Covid-19, emotional distress, education, social distancing, isolation, family

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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