The Effect COVID Has Had on the Wants and Needs of Children in Terms of Play: Text Mining the Qualitative Response of the Happen Primary School Survey with 20,000 Children in Wales, UK between 2016 and 2021.

ABSTRACT: Play is central to children's physical and social development. This study examines changes in children's response to questions on play opportunities between 2016 and 2021. Primary school children aged 8-11 in Wales participated in the HAPPEN survey between 2016 and 2021. The survey captures a range of information about children's health and wellbeing, including open-ended questions about what could make them happier. Text mining methods were used to examine how open-ended responses have changed over time in relation to play, before and, after the COVID enforced school closures. A total of 20,488 participant responses were analysed, 14,200 pre-school closures (2016 to pre-March 2020) and 6248 after initial school closures (September 2020-December 2021). Five themes were identified based on

SUBMITTER: James M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9566363 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature