Table 1.

Examples of negative thoughts and worries about COVID-19

Theme	Example	Child gender, age
Misconceptions of causality	‘My child goes through stages of appearing to understand … She has been angry and confused and has struggled to make sense of it … One day she appears to understand but then other days like today she kept saying she wanted to go to the play centre. It’s such a huge thing to understand for a 3 year old … ’	Girl, 3 years old
	‘Everyone going out will get the virus. People going out are all naughty and the police will need to get them.’	Girl, 4 years old
	‘Grandpa came into house once during restrictions, just in backyard to look at a picture we had drawn. Child told grandpa he had to leave and started crying thinking grandpa would die. But then a few days later thought I was tricking him about COVID-19 because grandpa was still alive and talking to us on the phone.’	Boy, 4 years old
	‘He says “because of the virus” to explain everything I say No to.’	Boy, 4 years old
Worries about self or others getting sick	‘Another night she had a slight head cold and woke up with a blocked nose. When she was trying to go back to sleep, she said “I’m scared I have Coronavirus”.’	Girl, 5 years old
	‘They worry about their grandparents getting sick and get sad and upset that they can’t see them, hug them etc.’	Girl, 4 years old
	‘She talks about being worried her germs will make other people sick.’	Girl, 3 years old
	‘They have openly said they don’t want to get sick’	Boy, 5 years old
Worries of permanent change	‘More recently she had a big breakdown, when she cried and cried that ‘everything is GONE. There’s no school, no park, no friends. There’s only the shops and bushwalking, and kids can’t even go to the shops!!’	Girl, 5 years old
	‘He is just worried it will be forever and he won’t get to go back to preschool or play with his friends again.’	Boy, 4 years old
	‘Concerns that things will never go back to how they were.’	Girl, 5 years old
	‘He has said that he is worried he won’t see family members who live overseas again.’	Boy, 3 years old
	‘He says this will never end and we will be stuck home forever. He’s scared he will never see his friends again’	Boy, 4 years old
Increased fears	‘She is more timid, especially of the dark … ’	Girl, 4 years old
	‘Fearful of lots more things now. The dark, nightmares, being alone.’	Boy, 3 years old
	‘Showed signs of anxiety and shutting down when asked to do different things’	Boy, 3 years old