O2033: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on School-aged Children and Families in Chicago

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected marginalized populations driven in part by long-standing health inequities and systemic racism. Among children, Black and Latinx populations have experienced higher rates of hospitalization, mortality, school closings, and food insecurity, housing instability, and domestic violence versus White children.

This study aimed to examine how children of marginalized families were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on student health, learning, and home life.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted as part of an existing community-academic partnership in Chicago to understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on personal and family life in 2020 and first half of 2021. The survey utilized the Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory along with questions about chronic conditions and demographics. The survey was distributed to parents/guardians of children at one Chicago K-8th grade school in a predominantly Latinx community during an in-person back-to-school event in August 2021. The survey was available in both English and Spanish. Parents/guardians completed one survey for each child(ren) at the school. Analysis utilized R and SPSS.

Results: Completed surveys represented 171 children. Most surveys were completed in Spanish (72.5%). Majority of students were female (58.5%) and did not have a chronic medical condition (84.8%).

Student learning shifted considerably during the pandemic. Nearly half of parents/guardians or another person at home had a child at home who could not go to school (48.6%, n=71/146). A majority also reported they or someone at home had to take over teaching or instructing their child (53.8%). Additionally, one-quarter of children had worsened ability to learn (25.6%).

Parents/guardians noted some home life stressors due to the pandemic, including spending more time caretaking a family member, childcare, and job insecurity. However, most households experienced positive changes in their relationships with their children, such as spending more quality time (69.0%). Other lifestyle changes at home included increased screen or device time (52.3%), greater appreciation of things usually taken for granted (63.0%), and more attention paid to personal health (61.1%).

While overall health remained the same for most students (54.8%) there were some negative impacts to student health during the pandemic, such as decreased physical activity (43.5%) and an increase in worsened moods (32.6%). However, nearly half of students had the same ability to play during the pandemic (45.2%), and most respondents reported no increase in behavioral or emotional problems among their child(ren) (71.4%). Sleep quality also remained consistent for nearly half of students (42.3%).

Conclusion: The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are multi-faceted for children of marginalized groups. Our findings highlight both positive and negative impacts on school-age children related to learning, home life, and health. It is critical for schools to understand the various adversities experienced to best support students individually and systematically.