Most children infected with the Covid-19 virus recover in less than a week, and rarely experience long-term symptoms, says a peer-reviewed study by scientists of King’s College, London, published recently in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health Journal. The study analysed data provided by parents on the UK Zoe Covid Study app. It covered 1,734 children, aged between five and 17 years, who tested positive for the Coronavirus between September 2020-February 2021.

King’s College researchers found that only one in 20 children (4 percent) experienced Covid-19 symptoms for four weeks or more, with one in 50 (2 percent) exhibiting symptoms for more than eight weeks. The most common symptoms reported were headaches, tiredness, sore throat and loss of smell.

“Our research confirms that a small number do have a long illness duration with Covid-19, though these children too usually recover with time. We hope our results will be useful for doctors, parents, and schools caring for these children – and of course affected children themselves,” says senior author Emma Duncan, professor of clinical endocrinology at the college’s School of Life Course Sciences.

Alcoholic parents cause mental health issues in children
Children of heavy alcohol drinkers are at higher risk of developing mental health disorders, serious injuries or illness and criminal behaviour, says a report published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (July). The authors reviewed data from 91 studies, 79 of which focused on the effects on children of heavy parental drinking. The report concluded that the progeny of parents who consume large amounts of alcohol are more likely to develop mental health problems.

Children whose mothers drink heavily are also at higher risk of mood disorders such as depression and stress-related conditions including anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, aka ADHD. Moreover such children are also more likely to report lower academic achievement, experience abuse or neglect and be placed in foster care. The study was conducted by researchers of Aarhus University, Denmark.

Teens open up to attentive parents
Engaged listening techniques such as eye contact, nodding and praising openness prompt teenagers to admit aberrant behaviour and share hurt feelings with their parents, says a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (June).
University of Reading (UK) researchers asked over 1,000 teens aged 13-16 years to watch a staged conversation between a parent and teenager about a difficult situation, with the parent adopting differing body language and listening behaviour in the same conversation. Adolescents who participated were unanimous that instances where the parent was visibly attentive would prompt them to admit wrongdoing and vent their sentiments.

“This study shows that in parent-teenager relationships, lending a patient ear to teens while communicating through body language that they are valued and appreciated has a powerful effect on their willingness to open up,” says Dr. Netta Weinstein, associate professor of clinical and social psychology at the University of Reading, who co-led the study.

1.5 million children worldwide lost a parent/caregiver to Covid-19
More than 1.5 million children worldwide are estimated to have lost at least one parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent who lived with them, to Covid-19 during the first 14 months of the pandemic, according to a study published in The Lancet.

The study, which covered 21 countries including India, highlights orphanhood as an urgent and overlooked consequence of the pandemic and recommends that providing psychosocial and economic support to children who have lost a caregiver must become an important response to the pandemic.

Traumatic experiences, such as the loss of a parent or caregiver, are associated with increased substance abuse, mental illness, and other self-harm behaviour.

“Though the trauma a child experiences after the loss of a parent or caregiver can be devastating, there are evidence-based interventions that can prevent further adverse consequences, such as substance abuse. We must ensure that children have access to these interventions,” says Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), USA which partly funded the study.