







































Children and Teenagers 
ISSN 2576-3709 (Print) ISSN 2576-3717 (Online) 

Vol. 5, No. 2, 2022 
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ct 

22 
 

Original Paper 

Psychosocial Implications of COVID-19 on Children in Nigeria 
Abiodun Adewole1

, Kayode Anthony Ogedengbe2, Oluwagbemiga Oyinlola2, & Oyebade Olanike2 
1 Department of Social Work, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 
2 Medical Social Services Department, University College Hospital, Ibadan 
* Oyinlola Oluwagbemiga, Medical Social Services Department, University College Hospital, Ibadan 

 

Received: August 7, 2021     Accepted: October 21, 2022     Online Published: November 21, 2022 

doi:10.22158/ct.v5n2p22                             URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/ct.v5n2p22 

 

Abstract 

There has been a plethora of research since the emergence of COVID-19 around the world but several of 

these studies have not focused on the psychosocial implication of the novel Coronavirus on children in 

Nigeria. Though the psychosocial impact of the virus is huge, there is paucity of literature addressing the 

needs of the Nigerian children during the pandemic. The paper explored the psychosocial implications 

(health, poverty issues, safety needs and learning) of COVID-19 on children in Nigeria. The study 

recommends the expansion of social assistance for children of families in extreme poverty, and there is a 

need to adapt standard physical distancing protocols to reflect the characteristics of children in different 

settings. Also, the Government of Nigeria should prioritize child-centred services. Training parents and 

caregivers on how to talk to their children about the pandemic, managing their mental health and 

providing tools to help children’s learning will be crucial. 

Keywords 

psychosocial, children, covid-19, social work 

 

1. Introduction 

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused one of the most significant tests the world has experienced since 

the Second World War leading to the formation of the United Nations. The Coronavirus diseases-2019 

has affected over 200 countries worldwide; containment measures, including lockdowns adopted by 

various countries, have led to a significant curtailment of the virus in the day -to -day lives of citizens in 

the respective countries. These measures have addressed the spread of the virus, but this comes with 

unexpected adverse outcomes among vulnerable groups, including children (World Health Organisation, 

2020). COVID-19 affects every child directly or indirectly as this is a public health problem which has 

affected the economic situation of every country and also complicates the growing needs of children in 

most developing countries where there are limited resources to help cope with the psychosocial 



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experiences during the pandemic (Defence for Children International, 2020). The disproportionate 

representation of children among vulnerable families makes them experience shock because available 

support for young children is primarily outside their formal system and might be overlooked (World 

Bank, 2020). Very few pieces of literature explicitly focused on the psychosocial implication of 

COVID-19 on children. Therefore, this paper will focus on the experience and psychosocial implications 

of the pandemic on children in Nigeria. 

 

2. Experience of COVID-19 among Children 

The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to increase and unfold all over the world, young children are 

more vulnerable, and the experience of children during the pandemic has been related to fear, promiscuity, 

insecurity, reorganization of the family system, and unprecedented dimension presented by the pandemic 

have had negative impacts on the right of the child in the country (Committee on Rights of the Child, 

2020). Children are also deprived of liberty and participation in social activities due to lockdowns across 

the country, which negatively impacts children’s physical and mental wellbeing in most developing 

countries (Chan, Yuan, & Kok, 2019). The importance of getting facts and information would assure the 

safety and protection of every child and their family members in the society in Nigeria, but, unfortunately, 

there is much information out there that is incorrect (UNICEF, 2020). Moreso, there is much 

misinformation during misinformation which has left individuals and their families unprotected and 

seriously vulnerable to the diseases (UNICEF, 2020) and also have tendencies to experience stigma 

among friends and family members (Chan et al., 2019) 

Children around the world in most hospitals are presented with symptomatic reactions, which are equally 

shared among older persons to date because the World Health Organisation has categorized them as one 

of the most vulnerable groups to the pandemic around the world (WHO, 2020). However, most cases of 

child mortality have now been succumbed to by COVID-19 as this is a likely reaction of prior medical 

conditions in most regions in Nigeria (Logie & Turan, 2020). Most common occurrences have been 

related to children tragically losing their parents, family members or caregivers to COVID-19; hence, the 

psychological impact should not be overlooked. 

Before the pandemic, the world has failed to provide adequate care and support for children; a situation 

where children who are below the age of 15 dies every second, one in every five children is been 

malnourished and more than 53% of the 10year old children in low and middle-income countries finds it 

difficult to read and understand stories (UNICEF, 2017). There is paucity of literature focusing on the 

psychosocial experience of children and their families, which is practically problematic for the 

development of children in Nigeria (Cao & Feng, 2019; Lin & Li, 2020). This indicates that, the longer 

the COVID-19 pandemic, the more dramatically the negative impact on these vulnerable children across 

the country (UNICEF, 2020). There are possibilities for an increase in the number of children negatively 

affected by the virus, but the economic struggles and the restriction on government spending keep 



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lingering in the country (WHO, 2020). 

 

3. The Psychosocial Implication of COVID-19 on Children 

Since there are multiple channels through which the pandemic affects children psychosocially, they are 

highly susceptible to falling into poverty, learning problems, survival and health problems and poor 

safety of children in their communities (World Bank, 2020). 

-Falling into poverty: The result of physical distancing and measures resulting from lockdown to save 

lives and curtail the transmission of the spread of the virus has led to a significant reduction in activities 

across the economies while also leading to the global recession. The impact of the recession remains and 

is seen to have a significant socio-economic impact on families of children in developing countries 

(World Economic Outlook, 2020). In most households, the collapse in income hurts the livelihood of 

millions of homes where children reside around the world. These inputs to the forecasts of IMF reported 

that there are possibilities for an increase in extreme poverty ($1.90 per day) this year from the current 

poverty rate of 84 to 132 million people, with approximately more than half of whom are children living 

in low and middle-income countries as compared to before the pandemic scenario (International 

Monetary Fund, 2020). This implies that a global downturn on poor households impacts breadwinners as 

they are forced to look for shelters or even migrate to rural settlements. However, most countries have 

adopted social protection measures focusing on support for families and children (Gentiini, 2020). The 

lockdown of public spaces is still unclear as there might be a possible lockdown in the future outbreak of 

COVID-19 or related pandemic worldwide. 

-Difficult learning new things: The worldwide closure of schools has affected more than 1.5 billion 

children and youth worldwide (UNESCO, 2020), in contrast to the previous outbreak of diseases. Most 

schools plan to extend lockdown, with over 58 countries having to reschedule their exams, while over 11 

countries have to cancel their exams (UNESCO, 2020). These have potential losses on the developing 

human capital among young people. However, several schools have to develop distance learning 

programs for their pupils. However, this is only available to very few children; where the majority of the 

children reside in low-income countries where there are no facilities to achieve learning for children 

(UNESCO, 2020). There is less access to digital technologies for the girl child than for boys, possibly 

reducing participation in online learning (UNICEF, 2020). For children residing in resource -constrained 

environments like informal settlements, internally displaced camps have limited access to internet 

facilities and are significantly impacted. More importantly, children with disabilities are finding it very 

hard to access distance education programmes in the country. Therefore, the possibility of school 

drop-out might be higher when the pandemic is over in all of this sub-group of children (Evans & Miguel, 

2013). 

-The health of the children: The direct health impact of COVID-19 on children has been milder than 

other age groups like older persons with comorbidities. Data from most affected regions, like China and 



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the United States of America, indicated that the hospitalization rate for symptomatic children is between 

9 to 20 times lower than for middle-aged and can be 25 and 100 times lower than for older persons 

(Centre Disease Communication, 2020). For example, 1 in 25,000 children in China is lost to COVID-19, 

which is more than 30 times less than the middle-aged and over 3,000 times less than older persons. It 

must be noted that the impact of the virus in terms of epidemiological impacts should be expected to 

differ over time in different contexts. The broader impact of the virus on child health is significant. It can 

impact household income as low-income families are forced to cut their food expenditures and essential 

health care (UNICEF, 2020). Based on the IMF forecast, there are possibilities for hundreds of thousands 

of additional child deaths in 2020 compared to before the pandemic scenario; this hurts the progress of 

the 2 to 3years target of reducing infant mortality within a single year (International Monetary Fund, 

2020). 

The estimation only focused on the effect of this year’s global recession and not on several ways there 

has been a disruption in health services across the country during the pandemic. This includes reduced 

access to essential child health services like vaccination and immunization, as these have been suspended 

in over 23countries around the world (UNICEF, 2020). In Nigeria, over 2 million children rely on school 

meals as a reliable source of daily nutrition, which has to stop while they look for other sources due to the 

lockdown in schools (World Food Programme, 2020). Also, the close-down of schools has a higher 

possibility of increasing the number of teenage pregnancies in the years ahead. There is a negative impact 

of physical distancing measures and restriction of movement on children’s mental health as it causes 

concerns and anxiety about the pandemic's negative impact on their lives and their communities. 

-Safety concerns: Several children see the homes as a form of safety and security, but for some, it is a 

tragic experience as they experience violence from caregivers, one of the most common forms of 

violence children experience (United Nations on Women, 2020). Children are witnesses of domestic 

violence;, the rates have possibilities of being higher in several countries (UNWomen, 2020). The act of 

domestic violence is more likely in most families during confinement at home as they experience intense 

anxiety and fear. Over 60% of children worldwide are in full or partial lockdown somewhere (UNICEF, 

2020). This presents opportunities for child abusers to harm children as they rarely report the act because 

they have no access to their teachers, while social protection and legal instruments are scaled back in 

most countries (Global Social Service Workforce Alliance & International Federation of Social Workers, 

2020). Very significantly, children are exposed to online predators and inappropriate content due to the 

introduction of distance learning. The high level of digitalization magnifies the vulnerability of children 

to harm (American Academics of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2020). 

Since there is practically no data in Nigeria available in the literature regarding the psychosocial 

implications of COVID-19 among children, caution should be taken among this population as 

non-available data suggest an increased risk of severe infection has not been demonstrated among this 

population. As social workers and other clinicians are thinking of innovative ways of helping children 



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and families, it would be encouraging to consider new opportunities the pandemic has created for 

individuals and communities to recover better towards building a more robust system for children 

attending Nigerian hospitals. 

 

4. Case Reports of COVID-19 among Children in Nigeria 

Although there are very few reported cases of COVID-19 among children in Nigeria because most 

children are not allowed to go out with peers or mingle with anyone within their environment as a result 

nationwide lockdown (Park et al., 2020; Nadeem et al., 2020), however, among the few reported cases of 

COVID-19 among children is a case report of three children from the same parent whose age is between 

3months to 8years they were managed in an isolation and treatment centre in Katsina. These children 

were admitted to the isolation and treatment centre between 16th April and 15th May 2020; they had a 

confirmatory test at the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja through the Polymerase chain reaction. 

Their father was previously diagnosed with COVID-19, and the second child was symptomatic with mild 

cough and nasal discharge cases, with an X-Ray showing pericardiac and paratracheal region. These 

children were isolated in the isolation centre, separated from their parents and other close family relations 

(Ibrahim et al., 2020). The children could not see the face of doctors, nurses and social workers providing 

treatment as they were wearing Personal Productive Equipment, there was reduced level of confidence 

and trust from these children. The implication of this psychosocial wellbeing of these includes total 

exclusion from their parents and other social environments.  

In another case report from UNICEF, (2020) from Lagos, Nigeria, there was a reported case of violence 

against children. This is a 13year old female, Rose (Name not real) was sexually and physically abused 

by her father several times. She grew up in a separated family because her mother had left when she was 

still very young. Her father resides in a one-room apartment in the suburb of Lagos State. Her neighbour 

alerted the owner, and the case was reported to the State Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare 

for justice. The emergence of COVID-19 worsened the case due to the closure of schools and the 

compulsory implementation of social distancing; this gave her father an avenue to rape her every night, 

and she was often tied and physically harassed when trying to stop him. Rose's consistently stifled cries 

during nights arose the attention of her neighbour, and she was finally rescued. There was an immediate 

provision of medical and psychosocial support services to Rose; her father was taken into police custody 

while she underwent a medical examination to ascertain there was pregnancy and other traces of sexually 

transmitted infection in the child (UNICEF, 2020). This implies that her case has led to an over 50 

percent increase in the number of cases of sexual violence during the lockdown, with more than 85% of 

cases relating to children and adolescents (Partnership for Justice, 2020). There is every possibility that 

cases of sexual and physical violence have been underreported during the COVID-19 lockdown. There is 

a very possibility that when children are allowed to go back to school freely, they will hopefully meet 

people they can confide in and there will be an influx of cases (Partnership for Justice, 2020). Restriction 



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in movement, loss of income, isolation, and high-stress levels are the main predisposing factors for 

children to experience psychosocial problems at home as they have made it extremely difficult for the 

victims – children to avoid their abusers (UNICEF, 2020).  

From Oyo State, Nigeria, there was a reported case of a COVID-19 patient that gave birth, delivered at 

the Infectious Disease Centre of the University College Hospital, Ibadan. This was the first COVID-19 

patient to have a delivery at the isolation centre. Although, Mother was symptomatic while the baby was 

asymptomatic. (Punch Healthwise Corner, 2020). 

 

5. Conclusion and Recommendations 

The impact of COVID-19 on children’s poverty, survival and health cannot be neglected. However, this 

impact is unequal, as some children will bear the consequences without appropriate interventions. The 

potential negative psychosocial impact for several children worldwide can be catastrophic as it slows 

down the progress of many sustainable development goals targeting children while also putting the 

ambitious target out of sight. In conclusion, information to address multiple psychosocial risks to save 

most at-risk children is very important as the rapid accumulation of data on the impact on children and 

their families. COVID-19 has shown a test of solidarity within communities, the scientific community 

and the nation, which will build a sense of unity among people. However, there is a wide range of 

activities by the government around the world to mitigate the pandemic by developing best practices to 

prevent psychosocial issues arising from the pandemic among children. 

The paper recommends immediate expansion of social assistance for families and universal child grants 

to protect children from extreme poverty. There is a need for an urgent supply of food chain to prevent 

children from food security crisis. In urban settings, the adaptation of standard physical distancing is 

essential in low-income settings by following preventive guidelines by the government authorities while 

also reflecting on the characteristics of children in different settings. The Government of Nigeria should 

prioritize child-centred services which focus on equity of access like schooling, nutrition programme, 

maternal and immunization services, sexual and reproductive health services, mental health services and 

psychosocial services for children. Protection services for vulnerable children, including children with 

disabilities and settlements like banning the arrest and detention of children that violates COVID-19 

directives. Training parents and caregivers include how to talk to their children about the pandemic, how 

they can manage their mental health and themselves, and tools to help their learning. 

 

Acknowledgement 

We acknowledged children and their caregivers. 

 

 

 



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