Rural Children’s Well-Being in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives from Children in the Midwestern United States

Children in rural areas are more likely to experience a variety of risk factors that increase their vulnerability to physical and mental health disparities. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model (1986) was used as a framework for understanding rural children’s perceptions and well-being within multiple interactive contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This phenomenological study was designed to explore rural children’s perceptions of their well-being and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their contexts and well-being. This sub-study of the Children’s Understandings of Well-Being project followed the standard qualitative interview protocol with additional prompts related to the pandemic. Rural children (age 8 to 18, N = 72) from the Midwestern United States participated from March 2020 to November 2021 via teleconferencing. Phenomenological analyses of transcripts focused on the essence of children’s understanding of well-being and their perception of the impact of the pandemic on their contexts and well-being. Each transcript was coded by author 1 and verified by author 2, and discrepancies were identified, discussed, and resolved. The third author served as an external auditor to enhance trustworthiness. First-cycle coding focused on children’s specific references to well-being experiences during COVID-19. Second-cycle selective coding focused on specific well-being experiences and contexts that were impacted by COVID-19. These codes were used to develop two broad themes, “Well This Kinda Stinks, But We Just Adapt” and “Safety Means Something Different to Me Now.” The meaning of themes and subthemes are explored, with implications for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.