The COVID-19 Pandemic - Selected Difficulties in Child Functioning
The COVID-19 Pandemic - Selected Difficulties in Child Functioning

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emergence of difficulties in children's functioning, while also delineating the prospective repercussions stemming from the deprivation of their needs. We need to analyze this experience very carefully, especially in the case of young children. Adverse events, according to the assumptions of bio-ecological and life-span theories, make it possible to understand the interactions of biology and environment on human functioning, behaviour, and development, particularly in early life stages. A literature review was conducted using the following databases: PsycArticles, PubMed and Google Scholar. Keywords used in the search for materials were: "pandemic", "COVID-19", "children", "development", "risks", and "functioning". A review of the research carried out showed the occurrence of frustration, concerns about the daily functioning of the youngest children. The pandemic, as can be seen, contributed to the disruption of daily routines, support structures and the normal functioning of children's family and non-family environments. However, these were not changes whose impact ended with the announcement of the end of the pandemic. The negative impacts of the pandemic on children's somatic health (e.g. difficulties with sleep, physical activity) and psychological health (problems with self-regulation, anxiety, fear) are perceptible. Within the framework of life course theory, the COVID-19 pandemic emerges as a social and historical event with a destructive impact, manifesting across various areas of life and the activities of the youngest. The effects of a pandemic may, in the long term, hinder the functioning and proper development of children in the future.

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