The well-being of children with special needs during the COVID-19 lockdown: academic, emotional, social and physical aspects

ABSTRACT

Although COVID-19 is being disruptive to all children, the effects are stronger for children with disabilities. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse, from a holistic perspective, the well-being of children with special needs during the total lockdown period in Spain. The ‘Well-being of Children in Lockdown’ (WCL) scale was completed by 1225 parents of which 3.1% (n = 38) had children with special needs. The results reveal the emergence of negative emotions among children with special needs, who were found to be crying more, feeling more nervous than usual, getting more angry and feeling sadder. These children also have more unhealthy habits, eat more than usual, overuse new technology and watch too many TV. Children with special needs scored lower for general well-being than those without these needs, and scored lower also for emotional aspects, playful and creative activities and physical activity.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• COVID-19
• disability
• lockdown
• well-being

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by KideOn Research Group of the Basque Government, Ref.: IT1342-19 (A category).R + d + i Projects Research Challenges of the Ministry of Economy, Science and Innovation, grant number PID2020-119011RB-100 EDU.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

KideOn. Research Group of the Basque Government, Ref.: IT1342-19 (A category)