Canberra parents have revealed how much their children and teenagers suffered during ACT lockdowns.
Children and teenagers who did more remote learning during COVID, like those in the ACT, had worse health outcomes than their peers, the federal government's Families in Australia survey said.
Parents were also more concerned about teenagers than younger children.
"More time spent remote learning [was] strongly associated with higher concerns," the study said.
Parents were also more likely to be concerned about their children if they themselves were struggling.
"Although this could reflect a tendency for parents who are struggling to have a less optimistic view of their child's wellbeing, it may also be due to a direct causal link between parent and child wellbeing," the study said.
One ACT parent of two said their nine-year-old daughter's mental health worsened after the second lockdown.
"After lockdown in 2020 we sought treatment for her for anxiety, this helped with managing anxiety but the second lockdown caused a worsening of symptoms," they said.
The isolation also hurt the mental health of many children. One ACT parent said their "extremely social" six-year-old suffered immensely.
"I can't even begin to explain here all the complex and detrimental impacts the school closure has had on her," the parent said.
"The negative changes in her during remote learning impacted the whole family and some of the changes remain today. It was scary to see her mental health [dive]."
While many parents and guardians found working from home while monitoring schooling difficult, others said the experience brought them closer to their children.
A parent of a five-year-old said: "Remote learning allowed me to understand more about what the kids are learning and the areas that my son was struggling with."
But another person said, of their 12 and 14-year-old, that "neither of them engaged with schooling at home successfully and the elder is so far behind with submissions [that] I don't know if she will catch up."
