Abstract

IPA, George Washington University, and Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) researchers have been implementing a study with Bangladeshi adolescents since 2017 to understand both transitions to adulthood and ‘what works’ to improve their transitions to adulthood. COVID-19 may affect their education, skills acquisition, and job prospects by limiting access to education, disrupting household income, increasing stress and exposure to violence, and shifting household and care work onto them. Researchers administered a phone survey to 4,485 adolescents in May 2020, when Bangladesh was under a country-wide lockdown. Researchers initiated a second round of surveys with the same group between February 2021 and April 2021, successfully surveying 3,779 adolescents, when the economy opened up but schools were still closed. These surveys took place in three distinct settings: among adolescents living in three low income areas in and around Dhaka, among adolescents who were attending grades 7 and 8 in Chittagong and Sylhet divisions prior to the pandemic, and among Bangladeshi and Rohingya adolescents living near and inside refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district.

The second round of surveys will help researchers and policy makers understand the dynamic effects of the pandemic, how adolescents respond, and how gender, household income, education, and economic aspirations affect their ability to adapt to crises. Researchers will especially focus on the older adolescents (15+) to measure their investment in skills for a better school-to-work transition, and the nature of paid and unpaid work that they are engaged in. IPA and GAGE expect to share results in late July 2021. These quantitative surveys were supplemented by qualitative surveys. This study is part of a larger GAGE-led initiative in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Jordan to track the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents and their caregivers. 

This project is a part of the Women's Work, Entrepreneurship, and Skilling (WWES) Initiative.

Questionnaire Description

The Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence COVID-19 phone survey (round 2) aims to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural changes related to COVID-19 of adolescents aged 10-19 as well as their primary female caregivers.

For the adolescent, the researchers also focus on the impact of COVID-19 across the six GAGE capability areas. Measures look at:

• Education and learning: disruptions in education, ability to study/learn while schools are closed, concerns about how covid-19 will impact education in the longer term.
• Health and nutrition: self-reported health, health symptoms related to COVID-19, impact of COVID-19 on food security, changes in risky behavior (e.g. smoking).
• Bodily integrity: coping mechanisms from the adolescent and her/his family, changes in violence in the community.
• Psychosocial well-being: primary health questionnaire—eight measures of mental health, locus of control, worry/fear about COVID-19
• Economic empowerment: disruptions in vocational training and/or paid work.
• Mobility, voice and agency: movement during the past seven days, ability to remain connected with friends.

Respondent Population Characteristics

Adolescents aged 10-19 as well as their primary female caregivers

Project Data Collection Mode

• CATI (Computer-assisted telephone interviewing)

Researchers (*corresponding author)

Sarah Baird (George Washington University); Silvia Guglielmi (GAGE); Khadija Mitu (University of Chittagong); Sabina F. Rashid (BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health); Tauseef Salauddin (University of Manchester); Jennifer Seager (George Washington University); Maheen Sultan (BRAC Institute of Governance and Development)

Partners

Gender, Adolescence, and Global Evidence (GAGE), George Washington University, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health

Questionnaire Usage Notes

Seager, J., Baird, S., Kalow, J., Oakley, E. and Taussef, S. (2021) Covid-19 phone survey (round 2) in Bangladesh. Adult female module. London: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence

Seager, J., Baird, S., Kalow, J., Oakley, E. and Taussef, S. (2021) Covid-19 phone survey (round 2) in Bangladesh. Core respondent module. London: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence

Questionnaire File Type

Reader-friendly survey instrument

Questionnaire Language(s)

English