The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s occupations
“Engaging in meaningful occupations is important for a child’s health and well-being and for developing skills (AOTA, 2020). Occupational engagement is defined by the American Occupational Therapy Association as the “performance of occupations as a result of choice, motivation, and meaning within a supportive context” (AOTA, 2020). Children engage to occupations that according to the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT, 2009) are categorized in three areas: 1. Self-care, which includes occupations that are crucial to survival, personal hygiene, and mobility around the house; 2. Productivity, which includes education and employment; and 3. Leisure, which includes occupations held during free time and social activities. On the other hand, momentous events may affect a person’s pattern of occupational engagement, leading to occupational disruption (Brown & Hollis, 2013). During the COVID-19 pandemic, children’s mental and physical health deteriorated significantly (Amorós-Reche et al., 2022; Chung & Rhie, 2021). Furthermore, Engzell et al. (2021) found that the closing of schools and online education were associated with minimum academic progress, leading to a learning delay equivalent to the duration of the lockdown. Learning delay was positively associated with low socioeconomic status, parental involvement, and technology skills (Engzell et al., 2021; van de Werfhorst, 2021).”
