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The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa

The Covid-19 pandemic and resultant disruptions to schooling presented significant challenges for many families. Well organised families have been shown to have a protective effect on adolescent wellbeing in periods of shock. At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Asenze, a population-based cohort s...

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Autores principales: Kvalsvig, Jane D., Taylor, Myra, Watt, Kathryn G., Desmond, Chris
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10414574/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37561806
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288501
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author Kvalsvig, Jane D.
Taylor, Myra
Watt, Kathryn G.
Desmond, Chris
author_facet Kvalsvig, Jane D.
Taylor, Myra
Watt, Kathryn G.
Desmond, Chris
author_sort Kvalsvig, Jane D.
collection PubMed
description The Covid-19 pandemic and resultant disruptions to schooling presented significant challenges for many families. Well organised families have been shown to have a protective effect on adolescent wellbeing in periods of shock. At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Asenze, a population-based cohort study, was conducting a third wave of data collection in peri-urban South Africa, examining risk and protective factors during adolescence. By March 2020, n = 272 adolescents and their caregivers (n = 241) in the cohort had been assessed when in-person data collection was halted by lockdown measures countrywide. During this cessation we undertook a brief telephonic qualitative sub-study to explore whether families enrolled in the cohort were able to cohabit cohesively and undertake distance learning during lockdown. A purposeful sample of 20 families (caregivers n = 20, adolescents n = 24) recently assessed in the Wave 3 of the main study, participated in semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data from Waves 1–3 of the main study was used to measure family function, adolescent cognitive function, and profile adolescent and caregivers. The quantitative and qualitative data were integrated to illustrate the dynamics of the participants’ lives before and during lockdown. We found that families classified as well-organized before lockdown, were more likely to report co-operation during lockdown. Adolescents who were self-motivated, had access to smartphones or the internet, and were supported by both family and educators, were well-placed to continue their education without much disruption. However, few schools instituted distance learning. Of the adolescents who were not assisted- some studied on their own or with peers, but others did no schoolwork, hindered by a lack of digital connectivity, and poor service delivery. The experience of adolescence and caregivers in the Asenze Cohort during lockdown highlight the importance of family functioning for adolescent wellbeing in crisis, as well as the need for access to health, mental health, and social services, communication upgrades, and enhancements to the education system during peaceful times, to make a difference to young lives in times of crisis.
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spelling pubmed-104145742023-08-11 The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa Kvalsvig, Jane D. Taylor, Myra Watt, Kathryn G. Desmond, Chris PLoS One Research Article The Covid-19 pandemic and resultant disruptions to schooling presented significant challenges for many families. Well organised families have been shown to have a protective effect on adolescent wellbeing in periods of shock. At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Asenze, a population-based cohort study, was conducting a third wave of data collection in peri-urban South Africa, examining risk and protective factors during adolescence. By March 2020, n = 272 adolescents and their caregivers (n = 241) in the cohort had been assessed when in-person data collection was halted by lockdown measures countrywide. During this cessation we undertook a brief telephonic qualitative sub-study to explore whether families enrolled in the cohort were able to cohabit cohesively and undertake distance learning during lockdown. A purposeful sample of 20 families (caregivers n = 20, adolescents n = 24) recently assessed in the Wave 3 of the main study, participated in semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data from Waves 1–3 of the main study was used to measure family function, adolescent cognitive function, and profile adolescent and caregivers. The quantitative and qualitative data were integrated to illustrate the dynamics of the participants’ lives before and during lockdown. We found that families classified as well-organized before lockdown, were more likely to report co-operation during lockdown. Adolescents who were self-motivated, had access to smartphones or the internet, and were supported by both family and educators, were well-placed to continue their education without much disruption. However, few schools instituted distance learning. Of the adolescents who were not assisted- some studied on their own or with peers, but others did no schoolwork, hindered by a lack of digital connectivity, and poor service delivery. The experience of adolescence and caregivers in the Asenze Cohort during lockdown highlight the importance of family functioning for adolescent wellbeing in crisis, as well as the need for access to health, mental health, and social services, communication upgrades, and enhancements to the education system during peaceful times, to make a difference to young lives in times of crisis. Public Library of Science 2023-08-10 /pmc/articles/PMC10414574/ /pubmed/37561806 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288501 Text en © 2023 Kvalsvig et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Kvalsvig, Jane D.
Taylor, Myra
Watt, Kathryn G.
Desmond, Chris
The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa
title The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa
title_full The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa
title_fullStr The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa
title_short The impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of South Africa
title_sort impact of family support and organization on adolescents during school closure under covid-19 lockdown regulations in an area of south africa
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10414574/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37561806
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288501
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