Parents: Pandemic Takes Heavy Toll on Children’s Mental Health

The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health has come into sharper focus with a report released this week by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.

In a poll conducted by Morning Consult and shared by National Council, a majority of parents surveyed said a year and a half of remote learning and social isolation has worsened their children’s mental health, and many have expressed concern about children returning to in-person learning for the 2021-22 school year.

“The mark of the COVID-19 pandemic has gone beyond physical health. It has negatively affected children and adolescents during a crucial time for social and emotional development,” National Council president and CEO Chuck Ingoglia said in a news release. “We must provide parents, teachers and community leaders with access to key mental health and substance use information and resources to improve wellbeing among young people as we navigate the new school year and beyond.”

In early August, Morning Consult surveyed 466 parents of children in kindergarten through 12th grade. The survey was conducted online. Among its findings:

• 62% of parents said their children’s mental health has worsened as a result of remote learning, while 59% said social isolation from COVID-19-related restrictions had caused their children’s mental health to be negatively impacted.
• 36% of all parents surveyed said their child was experiencing anxiety around returning to school. The rate of re-entry-related anxiety were higher for younger students, as 41% of parents with kindergartners and 43% of middle school parents reported children expressing anxiety over returning to school.
• 73% of parents surveyed said they back school districts increasing mental health support for students because of the effects they’ve experienced from social isolation.

National Council’s Ingoglia, along with Born This Way Foundation executive director Maya Enista Smith and Christopher Jones, PharmD, DrPH, MPH, acting director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, are scheduled to discuss the survey at National Council virtual event on Wednesday.