Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

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.

Https

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.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jun 9;12(6):e050417.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050417.

Nurturing care during COVID-19: a rapid review of early evidence

Kerrie Proulx  1   2 , Rachel Lenzi-Weisbecker  3 , Rachel Hatch  3 , Kristy Hackett  3   4 , Carina Omoeva  3 , Vanessa Cavallera  5 , Bernadette Daelmans  6 , Tarun Dua  5
Affiliations
Review

Nurturing care during COVID-19: a rapid review of early evidence

Kerrie Proulx et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to family life, society and essential health and other services. A rapid review of evidence was conducted to examine emerging evidence on the effects of the pandemic on three components of nurturing care, including responsive caregiving, early learning, and safety and security.

Design: Two academic databases, organisational websites and reference lists were searched for original studies published between 1 January and 25 October 2020. A single reviewer completed the study selection and data extraction with verification by a second reviewer.

Interventions: We included studies with a complete methodology and reporting on quantitative or qualitative evidence related to nurturing care during the pandemic.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: Studies reporting on outcomes related to responsive caregiving, early learning, and safety and security were included.

Results: The search yielded 4410 citations in total, and 112 studies from over 30 countries met our eligibility criteria. The early evidence base is weighted towards studies in high-income countries, studies related to caregiver mental health and those using quantitative survey designs. Studies reveal issues of concern related to increases in parent and caregiver stress and mental health difficulties during the pandemic, which was linked to harsher and less warm or responsive parenting in some studies. A relatively large number of studies examined child safety and security and indicate a reduction in maltreatment referrals. Lastly, studies suggest that fathers' engagement in caregiving increased during the early phase of the pandemic, children's outdoor play and physical activity decreased (while screen time increased), and emergency room visits for child injuries decreased.

Conclusion: The results highlight key evidence gaps (ie, breastfeeding support and opportunities for early learning) and suggest the need for increased support and evidence-based interventions to ensure young children and other caregivers are supported and protected during the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Child protection; Community child health; Depression & mood disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA diagram. PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Key review findings on nurturing care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cluver L, Lachman JM, Sherr L, et al. Parenting in a time of COVID-19. Lancet 2020;395:e64. 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30736-4 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yoshikawa H, Wuermli AJ, Britto PR, et al. Effects of the global coronavirus Disease-2019 pandemic on early childhood development: short- and long-term risks and mitigating program and policy actions. J Pediatr 2020;223:188–93. 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.05.020 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. UNICEF, World Bank, World Health Organization . Nurturing care for early childhood development a framework for helping children survive and thrive to transform health and human potential. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2018. https://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/nurturing-care-e...
    1. Chow MYK, Morrow AM, Booy R, et al. Impact of children's influenza-like illnesses on parental quality of life: a qualitative study. J Paediatr Child Health 2013;49:664–70. 10.1111/jpc.12261 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Effler PV, Carcione D, Giele C, et al. Household responses to pandemic (H1N1) 2009-related school closures, Perth, Western Australia. Emerg Infect Dis 2010;16:205–11. 10.3201/eid1602.091372 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types