¹û¶³Ó°Ôº

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, especially amongst children, are receiving increasing attention. What is less clear are the channels through which these effects are operating.

This paper helps fill this gap by isolating the impact of school closures on children’s mental health.

The researchersÌýusedÌýthe way in which primary school children were invited to return to school in England in the summer term of 2020.

TheÌýgovernment advice being that all children in reception, Year 1 and Year 6 should be invited to return from 1 June, while only vulnerable children and children of key workers could attend in Years 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The research adopted a difference-in-differences approach with child fixed effects, comparing changes over time (before the pandemic to July 2020) between children who were and were not invited to return to school using parent reports from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

Using reports from September 2020 – when all children had been invited to return school – they canÌýexplore the extent to which these effects persist.

CEPEO seminar series

The Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities (CEPEO) hosts a research seminar series where guest speakers present cutting edge research.Ìý

Join policymakers, researchers and practitioners to explore the pressing questions of our time in education policy and equalising opportunities.

Links

• Watch the webinar:Ìý
• CEPEO seminar series
• Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities
• Department of Learning and Leadership

Image: August de Richelieu via Pexels