Citation

Katz C, Fallon B. Child Abuse Negl. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104753

PMID

32981712

Abstract

COVID-19 took the world by surprise with the only comparable worldwide health event one hundred years prior. The Spanish Flu which began in 1918 was ultimately responsible for the deaths of 50 million people. COVID-19 resulted in a health crisis that was accompanied by the imposition of social isolation measures and, in many countries, a quarantine for various periods of time in order to contain the spread of infection and reduce the burden on health care sectors. These unprecedented measures also generated a worldwide economic crisis. Inevitably, COVID-19 will have serious and potentially long-lasting implications for the mental health of millions of children and their caregivers. In a recent report by UNICEF Innocenti (2020), a worrisome picture of children's well-being worldwide was presented indicating that in many countries children are not provided access to the resources and opportunities needed in order to achieve their full potential. The catastrophic impact of COVID-19 on the lives of children, parents and families worldwide will have adverse consequences for their mental and physical health as well as their long-term development. This issue is dedicated to understanding the immediate and potential consequences of COVID-19 and its impact on child safety, development and on our ability to protect children from maltreatment given the unprecedented social isolation measures employed.

Language: en