COVID-19 - research studies on children

and young people's views

Children & Young People Engagement team
Children and young people are experiencing the impact of COVID-19, and lockdown, in
many ways - from their education to staying at home with family, from the way they access
health and support services to their emotional health and wellbeing. We're compiling studies
across the UK that are collecting children and young people's experiences and insights.
Last modified
23 November 2020
Post date
26 May 2020
Table of contents

Introduction
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Completed studies
Ongoing studies - open
Ongoing studies - awaiting results

If there are any issues with the links, errors or new surveys that should be featured, please
contact and_us@rcpch.ac.uk.

Introduction
Children and young people are experiencing and feeling the impact of COVID-19 in a
number of different ways - from changes to their education to staying home with families,
changes to the way health services support them as well as changes to their emotional
health and wellbeing.

Across the UK they have been sharing their insights with several charities, organisations and
academic institutes about living through lockdown and COVID-19. These valuable, real life
experiences need to be viewed alongside scientific and medical data sets, in order to
effectively plan for services over the coming months.

The voices of children and young people are central to recovery planning, with RCPCH
supporting clinicians, services and settings to understand their needs by collating surveys
and insight from a range of external organisations and charities that have captured the voice
and views of children, young people, young adults and their families.

You can keep children and young people’s voice at the centre of informing and influencing
service design and delivery, by reviewing the surveys, interrogating the data and including
children and young people’s voice to enhance your plans, position statements or journal
articles by. Publications will then better reflect and reference the voice and views of children
and young people alongside medical and scientific data.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

We are compiling studies that are collecting the experiences and insights of children and
young people (up to 25 years) within the UK.

Inclusion criteria:

Include views from children, young people and young adults aged 0–25 years
In English language
Relate to views from the UK
Are conducted in 2020
Use method(s) appropriate to children and young people

Exclusion criteria:

Include views from adult (over 25 years) and children/young people/young adult (up to
25 years) data where the data for 0-25 years cannot be extracted
Include fewer than 25 responses from children/young people/young adults
Do not include primary responses from children, young people or young adults

Completed studies

Total Lead
Study Location Age range Target group
responses organisation
80 young
Cancer and
Children and people +
Coronavirus: as UK CLIC Sargent
young people 184
tough as it gets
parents
Young people
Chronic illness and with chronic
UK TBC RAiISE
Coronavirus (PDF) illness
experience

Child/Young person 21
4-15 Children and
(living with included
(parents/carers) young people University of
overweigh or UK due to
with obesity Leeds
obesity) service specialist
16-17 experience
user survey (PDF) voice
 Total Lead
Study Location Age range Target group
responses organisation
Co-SPACE Covid-
Parents and
19: supporting
young people
parents, University of
UK 11-16 (parents must 1300
adolescents and Oxford
complete/consent
children during
first)
epidemics)

CCopeY: Young
people's mental
health and coping
styles during and
after COVID-19 Imperial
UK 16-24 Young people 796
lockdown College

Read an update
from the young
advisors!

University of
TeenCovidLife Scotland 12-17 Young people 5548
Edinburgh
British
Our views on
UK 14-18 Young people 1000 Science
COVID-19
Association
Our voices speaking NI Youth
NI 11-25 Young people 2545
truth to power (PDF) Forum
Stress among
Office of the
children in England
Children and Children's
during the England 8-17 3851
young people Commissioner
Coronavirus
for England
lockdown
What challenges
Young people
have young people
from LGBTQ+, Association
who face
Gypsy, Traveller of Young
inequalities England 10-25 31
and Roma and Peoples
experienced during
Young Carer Health
the Covid-19
communities
lockdown?
Young People's
South
Mental Health University of
West 13-14 Young people 1047
during the COVID- Bristol
England
19 Pandemic
 Total Lead
Study Location Age range Target group
responses organisation
Office of the
Some sort of normal
Children and Children's
(return to school England 8-17 1500
young people Commissioner
experiences)
for England

Mental health of
children and young Lifestyles
Children and
people in England England 5-22 3570 Team NHS
young people
Digital

Living through a
lockdown -
reflections and Young people at Redthread,
recommendations England 14-25 risk of youth 41 Streetdoctors,
from young people violence MAC-UK
at risk of serious
violence
Partnership
Checking in: voices
for Young
of young people
London 14-24 Young people 157 London,
during lockdown
Good
(PDF)
Thinking
Children's
experiences of Children and
England 7-16 1164 Sport England
physical activity in young people
lockdown
Back on Track:
supporting young England
11-16 Young people 1009 YMCA
people out of and Wales
lockdown

Children and Children's

Life on Hold (PDF) UK 2150
young people Society

Teenagers’
experiences of life in
University of
lockdown (TELL) UK 16-19 Young people 100
Manchester
Caring for your
wellbeing (PDF)
My Future, My
UK 12-25 Young carers 961 Carers Trust
Feelings, My Family
 Total Lead
Study Location Age range Target group
responses organisation

Coronavirus: Impact
on Young People Young people
with Mental Health with mental
Needs UK 13-25 4,258 Young Minds
health
experience
3 studies from
March – Sept 2020

How to build back

better: listening to Young people
MCR
the voices of our Scotland 13-18 facing 1,347
Pathways
young people disadvantage

Young people
Devalued by forces
UK 13-25 supported by 113 Barnardo's
beyond our control
Barnardos
22
included
Online harms UK 16-23 Young people due to Catch22
specialist
voice
Children’s
Edge Hill
information on UK 7-12 Children 150
University
coronavirus
You-COPE: Mental University
health College
consequences London, /
experienced by University of
UK 16-24 Young people 1,507
young people aged Sussex/
16-24 during first Imperial
months of the College
COVID-19 lockdown London
Barnardos /
HYPE Bristol
Mental health and
Children and / HYPE
COVID-19: In our UK 7-24 4,000
young people Plymouth,
own words
Article 12,
TIGER
Cancer x
Cancer
coronavirus: the Teenage
UK 13-30 experienced 118
impact on young Cancer Trust
young people
people
 Total Lead
Study Location Age range Target group
responses organisation
#ScotYouthandCovid
Children and young A Place in
Scotland 10-16 Young people 25
people’s Childhood
participation in crisis
Spend time with me:
children and young Young people Centre for
people’s with youth Youth and
Scotland 48
experiences of justice Criminal
COVID-19 and the experience Justice
justice system

-YouthLink
LockdownLowdown - Scotland
what young people
Young Scot
in Scotland are Scotland 11-25 Young people 2,400
thinking about Scottish
COVID-19 (PDF) Youth
Parliament

Children's
How are you doing? Scotland 8-14 Young people 3,698
Parliament
Our voices aren’t in Northern NI Youth
11-25 Young people 780
lockdown Ireland Forum
Impact of lockdown Duke of
on young people UK 14-25 Young people 9,913 Edinburgh
(PDF) Award
Take the Beatfreeks
UK 14-25 Young people 1,500
temperature Youth Trends
Impact of COVID-19
Girls and young GirlGuiding
on girls and young UK 4-18 7,000
women UK
women
Young people in Princes Trust
16-25 Young people 1,022
lockdown / YouGov
Needs of young
people through Under 18 Young people 55 Diana Award
COVID (PDF)
Impact of lockdown
University of
on young people UK 13-24 Young people 2,002
Sheffield
(PDF)
 Total Lead
Study Location Age range Target group
responses organisation
The Oxford ARC
study: achieving University of
UK 13-18 Young people 321
resilience during Oxford
COVID-19 (PDF)

3-7 Children's
Children and
Coronavirus and me Wales 23.719 Commissioner
young people
7-18 Wales

Cost of the school

Children and Child Poverty
day during COVID- UK 1,400
young people Action Group
19
Primary
School
Happen at home Wales 8-11 Children 1,000
Network
Wales
The experience of
the coronavirus
England
lockdown in low 16-19 Young people 188 StreetGames
and Wales
income families in
England and Wales
Reimagining the
future of paediatric
care post-COVID- Children and
UK 9-25 57 RCPCH
19 - a reflective young people
report of rapid
learning
University
You-Cope
College
Disruptions
London /
experienced by
University of
young people aged UK 18-24 Young adults 1,274
Sussex/
16-24 during first
Imperial
months of the
College
COVID-19 lockdown
London
A survey of the
Sarah Jannat
effects of lock-down
Iqbal, Year-6
due to corona-virus
Children and student at
on students in Sheffield 5-15 162
young people Avicenna
primary and
Academy,
secondary schools
Sheffield
(PDF)
 Total Lead
Study Location Age range Target group
responses organisation

20
Understanding the
needs of young
East included
carers in the context Children and University of
Anglia/West 12-22 here due
of the covid-19 young people East Anglia
Berkshire to
global pandemic specialist
(PDF) voice

My Health, Our
Future – At Home Children and Healthwatch
Suffolk 6-25 3,000
(PDF) updated Young people Suffolk
report
Life in lockdown UK 11-21 Young people 60 Power2
Youth In lockdown
Essex 9-25 Young people 202 ECVYS
(PDF)

Ongoing studies - open

Age Lead
Study Location Target group
range organisation

Wellcome,
COVID-19 Peer Support UK 16-18 Young People University of
Oxford

Investigating mental
health in autistic young Young people Kings College
UK 15-19
people during the with Autism London
COVID-19 Pandemic
Life for young people in North East University of
14-30 Young people
lockdown England Durham
Coronavirus and autistic
Children and Ambitious
children and young UK
young people About Autism
people
Psychological
responses to the climate
and COVID-19 crises in Imperial
UK 16-24 Young adults
young people, and their College London
agency to build the
world they hope to see
 Age Lead
Study Location Target group
range organisation
Corona Chronicles -
Children researching
their everyday lives,
Yorkshire and University of
education and 9-11 Children
Humber, England Huddersfield
relationships during the
coronavirus pandemic
(CHEER)
UK (and ECORYS,
Growing up under
compared to other 14-18 Young people University of
COVID-19
countries) Huddersfield
Young trans and gender
diverse lives’ in the UK: Trans/gender Nottingham
UK 16-25
the mental health impact diverse Trent University
of COVID-19
What is it like to be a 11-18
teenager or young adult (25
UK Young people NCB
in a global pandemic? with
(PDF) SEND)
NIHR Maudlsey
Understanding the
Biomedical
needs of young adults Young people /
UK 16+ Research
following the COVID-19 young adults
Centre, Kings
pandemic
College London
Citizen enquiry into No lead
UK Young people
COVID-19 organisation
Four classes of
Y3 children
#Eco-capabilities: from two
Anglia Ruskin
wellbeing before and Cambridgeshire 7-8 primary
University
after the pandemic schools in new
areas of high
deprivation

SHARE studies:
University of
Hydrocephalus Southampton
Cancer Long term Teaching
Chronic Kidney UK 12-25 condition Hospitals with a
Disease patients number of
Congenital Heart condition
Disease specific partners
Cystic Fibrosis
 Age Lead
Study Location Target group
range organisation
Bradford
Bradford
Teaching
school age
Born in Bradford study Bradford 5-18 Hospitals NHS
children and
Foundation
young people
Trust
South London
and Maudsley
CAMHS in South South Young CAHMS
NHS
London survey London/Maudsley people service users
Foundation
Trust
Young people’s
emotional health &
Hull 10-25 Young people Hull City Council
wellbeing coronavirus
survey

Ongoing studies - awaiting results

Age
Study Location Target group Lead organisation
range
Exploring experiences of
life at home during Research in
UK Young people
lockdown for young Practice / TACT
people in care
Keeping well in a COVID- Mental health King's College
UK 16+
19 crisis service users London
Children and
Impact of COVID-19 on Early
young people,
outdoor learning among UK years - University of Hull
parents,
children 16
workforce
Institute of Applied
Health Research,
CONTRAST study UK 11-15 Young people
University of
Birmingham

Queen’s University
#CovidUnder19 - life Children and
UK / Global 8-17 Belfast and global
under coronavirus young people
partners

Identifying and supporting

'off-radar' children and Experience of Kings College
UK 16+
young people at risk of abuse at home London
violence and abuse
 Age
Study Location Target group Lead organisation
range
Social media and mental University of
UK 16-24 Young people
health Manchester
Youth services in Brighton & Brighton & Hove
11-25 Young people
Brighton & Hove Hove City Council
Young people and
Newcastle Young people YPAGNe
lockdown