Psychological impact of covid-19 related school closure on Indian children

Children were out of school and confined to their home since the prolonged school closure was announced in March 2020. While there is some research on the psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on patients and health-care workers, not much is known about the psychological effects on ordinary people, especially children.19 As the pandemic caused huge financial and personal losses to many families, it is important to support children facing bereavement and issues related to parental unemployment or loss of household income. There is also a need to monitor children’s mental health during these stressful times and to study how prolonged school closures, strict social distancing measures, and the reopening of schools after so long has affected the psychological wellbeing of children. In view of the above, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychological effects of prolonged school closure and reopening after so long. The study has shown that there is an increase in behavioural and emotional problems of children due to COVID-19 related prolonged school closure and reopening thereafter.