Experiences of remote education during COVID-19 and its relationship to the mental health of primary school children

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to describe how parents and primary school children dealt with the rapid and significant changes to their schooling experience during COVID-19 and how this correlated with children's mental health. A cross-sectional study comprising an online survey was completed by 797 parents of children from 4–12 years, (M = 9 years). School variables explored included school expectations for schoolwork, how much time per day spent on schoolwork, how able parents were to support their child with schoolwork, whether a child had support from an adult at school and whether the child had support from a friend. Child mental health was measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Regression analysis indicated that parents’ ability to support their child with schoolwork was correlated with child mental health status. Further analysis indicated the association between ability to support their child with schoolwork and child mental health status was mediated by parental psychological distress. These findings reinforce the importance of parents as a link between schools and students during the pandemic. Implications for educational policy are discussed.

Keywords:

• remote learning
• parent
• child mental health
• COVID-19
• pandemic

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support and guidance of the CoSPACE Oxford team, in particular Professor Cathy Creswell and Professor Polly Waite who provided the main study instrument. We would also like to thank all members of the CoSPACE Ireland research team who assisted with the study data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer McMahon

Dr Jennifer McMahon is a lecturer in Psychology in the Department of Psychology, University of Limerick. She is director of the Irish research Council funded i-TEACH (Teaching for Inclusion) research lab at UL. Her primary interests are in the area of inclusion, child and youth social emotional development, school mental health and the translation of evidence to practice in school settings. Jennifer has previously been funded by the Irish Research Council, the National Disability Authority, the National Office of Suicide Prevention and the Teaching Council of Ireland for her work. Dr McMahon has worked for Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, is a wellbeing advisory group member for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) for Children in Detention and Care (CiDC) and is the outgoing chair of the ACAMHS Early Intervention in Youth Mental Health Special Interest Group. Since March 2020 she has led CoSPACE Ireland, a study linked to CoSPACE UK led by Professor Cathy Creswell and Dr Polly Waite, University of Oxford, which seeks to explore the impact of COVID-19 on young people and their families.

Elaine A. Gallagher

Dr Elaine A. Gallagher is a post-doctoral research fellow at University of Limerick Psychology Department since June 2019, having been awarded a Marie Curie CAROLINE Fellowship. She is an Environmental and Social Psychologist and her current research project focuses on the impact of social identity on social cohesion in relation to flood prevention behaviours. Prior to that she worked on three Horizon 2020 projects in the field of public acceptance and receptivity and the circular economy at the Water Science Institute in Cranfield University, UK. Elaine is also part of the large GoGreenRoutes team, that was recently awarded substantial funding from Horizon 2020 to carry out extensive research to improve urban health through sustainable urbanisation and resilience across a number of cities. Elaine is a member of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).

Eibhlín H. Walsh

Ms. Eibhlín H. Walsh is a National Institute of Studies in Education doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology, University of Limerick. Her doctoral research primarily focuses on exploring contextual and intervention factors to further understand effectiveness and implementation capacity of post-primary school-based suicide prevention, using mixed methodologies. Ms Walsh is an investigator for Co-SPACE Ireland and a member of the i-Teach Lab.

Clíodhna O’Connor

Dr Clíodhna O'Connor is a post-doctoral researcher with the National Suicide Research Foundation, UCC working on the Horizon 2020 funded MENTUPP research programme and a range of other projects on mental health. Clíodhna graduated with a PhD in Psychology from University College Dublin in 2018 and is a graduate of the BEd in Education and Psychology course in Mary Immaculate College (2013). Prior to working with NSRF, Clíodhna was the post-doctoral researcher on My World Survey, the largest national study of youth mental health, in University College Dublin and in collaboration with Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health. Clíodhna has worked as a primary school teacher, has contributed to undergraduate Psychology programmes in UCD and is interested in bridging Psychology and Education to improve mental health.