Childhood in Quarantine: A Qualitative Dyadic Study of Children’s Experiences of Uncertainty, Disruption, and Adaptation

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how children aged 8–12 went through and interpreted the COVID-19 pandemic within family contexts. By integrating both parents and children into the study, it aims to collaborate on parent–child narratives to present a landscape that captures the full picture of what really happened to children during the sensitive period of the pandemic, both physically and mentally. While prior research has largely focused on psychological statistics and relied primarily on parent-reported data, less is known about children’s subjective voices and illustrated divergence within the family context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 parent–child dyads in the United Kingdom between mid-2021 and early 2022. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis with an explicit dyadic analytic component. The following emergent themes were generated while answering the research questions to get a detailed understanding of children’s experience: (1) living with Chronic Uncertainty as a Persistent Psychological Condition; (2) reconfiguration of developmental contexts under confinement; (3) reconstruction of Relational Values and Social Meaning; and (4) parent–child divergence in Meaning-Making and Emotional Interpretation. Specifically, the dyadic comparison showed that parents were able to identify children’s behavioural signs of distress, but they might partially overlook these signs and sometimes attribute them to children’s personality and developmental factors, or might overly highlight children’s growth without recognising their deep concerns. Parent-child discrepancies reflect distinct interpretive perspectives, highlighting the importance of examining children’s experiences of adversity and adaptation within family systems during prolonged crises. This study emphasises the importance of involving multiple sources to uncover children’s experiences, while also highlighting the need to interpret the family system for future studies.