COVID-19 Early Years Resilience and Impact Survey (CEYRIS) report
Findings from round four

About this release

We present a series of reports providing an overview of the findings from the fourth round of the COVID-19 Early Years Resilience and Impact Survey (CEYRIS). These reports include:

Background report

• Providing context to the survey, methodology and demographic characteristics of the participants.

Report 1 - Health and social wellbeing outcomes in children

• An overview of the top line findings to present key trends emerging from the data. Results are grouped by the following themes and are presented by age group, as well as income category:
  • Parent and carer perceptions of the impact of the pandemic on their child's physical health, mental health and wellbeing, sleep, and speech and language, as well as perceptions as to when any concerns arose in relation to the pandemic.
  • Parent and carer perceptions of the impact of the pandemic on their child's social interactions and relationships, and perceptions as to when any concerns arose in relation to the pandemic.
  • Parent and carer perceptions of positive impacts of the pandemic for their child.
  • Child's current mental health and wellbeing, as reported by parents and carers.

Report 2 - play and learning

• An overview of the top line findings to present key trends emerging from the data. Results are grouped by the following themes and are presented by age group, as well as income category:
  • Child's learning at home and child’s learning in childcare and school settings.
  • Child's (indoor and outdoor) play and activities and child’s attendance at organised activities.

Report 3 - the experience of parents and carers

• An overview of the top line findings to present key trends emerging from the data. Results are grouped by the following themes and are presented by age group, as well as income category:
  • Parent and carer wellbeing, measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scores (SWEMWBS).
  • Parent and carer perceptions of the impact of the pandemic on their own mental health, physical health and alcohol use.
  • Perceived positive impacts of the pandemic for parents and carers.
  • Parent and carer experience of accessing key services for children.

Report 4 – Household economic circumstances

• An overview of the top line findings to present key trends emerging from the data. Results are grouped by the following themes and are presented by age group, as well as income category:
  • Household employment and income.
  • Financial impacts of the last few years.
  • Food insecurity.

Key messages briefing paper

• An overview of the key messages from the fourth round of CEYRIS and, where applicable, comparison of these findings against the three previous rounds of CEYRIS:
• Parental concerns with child.
• Child’s mental wellbeing.
• Child’s play, activities and outdoor access.
• Childcare and education settings.
• Parental concerns about their own health and wellbeing.
• Parent’s mental wellbeing.
• Parent experience of using key services for child.
• Household economic circumstances.
• Positive experiences.

Main points

There are a vast amount of data presented across the reports. Below, we highlight some general points arising from the findings:

• Overall, the findings for round 4 suggest that for a substantial proportion of children in our sample, parents perceive the pandemic to have had a negative impact on child and family health and wellbeing.
• The impacts generally appear to have been felt to a greater extent in families from low-income households, who may have already been struggling before the pandemic.
• The impacts do not appear to have been universal. Areas that some families report as having a negative impact, others report as having a positive impact.
• There are areas where the perceived impacts tend to be positive, rather than negative, and these should not be overlooked.
• There are areas where further analysis would be beneficial, which may be presented in future publications.

Background

The COVID-19 Early Years Resilience and Impact Survey (CEYRIS) is an anonymous, cross-sectional survey administered online. PHS developed the survey to address a gap in the evidence base about wider impacts of the pandemic on young children and their families in Scotland. To date, there have been four rounds of the survey completed. Round 1 in June to July 2020, round 2 in November to December 2020, round 3 in September to October 2021 and round 4 in June 2023. Findings from all four rounds can be found on the PHS website.