“Why Can’t I see my Friends and Family?”: Explaining COVID-19 to Young Children

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

Question-explanation exchanges in parent-child interactions play a fundamental role in fostering children’s early learning (Kurkul & Corriveau, 2018), especially when children are acquiring information about unobservable scientific phenomena such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has led to our current global health crisis. Prior research indicates that testimony from trusted sources is especially important when children are learning about abstract scientific concepts such as germs (Clegg et al., 2019; Harris et al, 2018) or mechanisms underlying opaque causal processes such as electricity (Leech et al., 2020). Although adults may spontaneously provide information, children often acquire knowledge by asking questions (Butler et al., 2020; Kurkul & Corriveau, 2018).

The onset of this pandemic has greatly impacted children’s lives, many of whom were forced to finish the school year remotely and cannot see their friends/extended family. As with other unobservable entities, children must rely on parents to acquire information about COVID-19. Yet, we know very little about how children are understanding COVID-19 or its consequences. In the current study, we explored developmental changes in children’s questions about COVID-19 as well as their parent’s explanations. Parents (n = 182) of children (aged 3-8) completed an online survey in May 2020 using Qualtrics software. The sample included parents primarily in New York and Massachusetts: states hit particularly hard by COVID-19 by May. The survey contained three blocks – demographic information, children’s questions and parents’ explanations.

Parents reported questions their child had asked related to COVID-19. Questions were coded in two categories. For questions about COVID-19 itself (35.3%), 15% were about the start, 52% were about the end and 31% were about the science behind COVID-19. For questions about consequences of COVID-19 (64.7%), 10% mentioned death, 17% discussed getting sick, 61% were about activities (e.g., school) and 6% mentioned wearing masks. With age, children ask more questions about death (b = 0.58, (SE) = .014, p < .000) and illness (b = 0.044, SE = .017, p = .01). Younger children (aged 3-5) ask more questions about the loss of activities than older children (aged 6-8; b = -0.075, (SE) = .022, p = .001).

Parents also shared how they have explained COVID-19 to their child. For the method of explaining COVID-19 (codes are not mutually exclusive), 14% of explanations used an analogy to compare COVID-19 to other illnesses, 24% discussed germs, 84% discussed what children can do during the pandemic and 7% mentioned educational material. Parents’ analogical explanations increase with age (b =1.104, (SE) = .465, p = .02), whereas parents’ explanations that focus on germs decrease with age (b = -.054, (SE) = .020, p = .007). For explanation content, 68% mentioned making people sick, 8% discussed death, 75% mentioned social distancing and 26% discussed handwashing. Also, parents’ explanations that focus on death increase with age (b = 0.040, (SE) = .013, p = .002).

Taken together, the findings indicate the important role of testimony in children’s understanding of COVID-19 and advance our understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on parents and young children.

Authors

• Amanda S Haber, Fairfield University
  Presenting Author

• Sona Kumar, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hannah Puttre, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maya Sienkiewicz, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yuqi Zhang, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nermeen Dashoush, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kathleen H. Corriveau, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author