What Happens to Children’s Mental Health and Peer Relationships During Periods of Restricted and Unrestricted Social Interactions? Results From the Co-SPACE Study in Primary School-Aged Children

ObjectiveChildren’s experiences of peer victimization and peer aggression are strongly linked to their mental health. However, we do not know how this relationship is influenced by periods of restricted and unrestricted social interactions. In this study, we investigated the following: (1) the bidirectional association between children’s peer problems and mental health; (2) individual differences in the joint development of peer victimization, peer aggression, and mental health; and (3) factors associated with joint trajectories over 13 months during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.MethodOur sample consisted of 2,160 children 4 to 10 years of age for whom parents or carers/caregivers completed a baseline and at least 1 follow-up online survey between March 2020 and May 2021 as part of the COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics (Co-SPACE) study. We used generalized linear models to examine bidirectional associations, group-based trajectory modeling to map joint trajectories, and multinomial logistic regressions to identify factors associated with trajectories.ResultsExperiencing mental health difficulties during school closures increased the risk of experiencing peer victimization, but not peer aggression on return to school. Experiencing any peer problems during school closures did not predict subsequent mental health difficulties. The majority of children followed joint trajectories of low exposure to peer problems and mental health; however 16% to 17% of our sample followed joint trajectories of high exposure to peer problems and mental health. Low family income, family conflict, parental distress, special educational needs, and lack of friendships were associated with high exposure mental health and peer problem trajectories.ConclusionIncreasing children’s mental health support during periods of isolation may not only reduce concurrent and future mental health problems but may also prevent subsequent peer problems for both vulnerable and non-vulnerable children.Study preregistration informationCo-SPACE (Covid-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics); https://osf.io/. Children’s experiences of peer victimization and peer aggression are strongly linked to their mental health. However, we do not know how this relationship is influenced by periods of restricted and unrestricted social interactions. In this study, we investigated the following: (1) the bidirectional association between children’s peer problems and mental health; (2) individual differences in the joint development of peer victimization, peer aggression, and mental health; and (3) factors associated with joint trajectories over 13 months during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Our sample consisted of 2,160 children 4 to 10 years of age for whom parents or carers/caregivers completed a baseline and at least 1 follow-up online survey between March 2020 and May 2021 as part of the COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics (Co-SPACE) study. We used generalized linear models to examine bidirectional associations, group-based trajectory modeling to map joint trajectories, and multinomial logistic regressions to identify factors associated with trajectories. Experiencing mental health difficulties during school closures increased the risk of experiencing peer victimization, but not peer aggression on return to school. Experiencing any peer problems during school closures did not predict subsequent mental health difficulties. The majority of children followed joint trajectories of low exposure to peer problems and mental health; however 16% to 17% of our sample followed joint trajectories of high exposure to peer problems and mental health. Low family income, family conflict, parental distress, special educational needs, and lack of friendships were associated with high exposure mental health and peer problem trajectories. Increasing children’s mental health support during periods of isolation may not only reduce concurrent and future mental health problems but may also prevent subsequent peer problems for both vulnerable and non-vulnerable children.