The CUPID COVID-19 National Parents Survey, with a sample of 1,044 parents living throughout Ireland, was conducted from 5th June to 10th June 2020 to assess parents’ experience of seeking healthcare for their children during the restrictive public health measures or “lockdown” introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey asked if parents needed to access healthcare for their child since the schools closed on 12th March and the lockdown was announced, and if they decided not to access the healthcare needed. They we also asked their level of hesitancy on accessing such healthcare during lockdown and as the country entered Phase One of reopening, the public health stage at the time of the survey. Respondents were asked if they had one or more of the following concerns on accessing healthcare for their child: contracting Covid-19, services would be too busy, the Government advice was to stay away, the service was needed by others, worried about being judged for using a service if it wasn’t an emergency, not having a car and didn’t want to use public transport, or some other reason. Those who did access healthcare for their child indicated the type of healthcare accessed including face-to-face consultation with a GP, video or telephone consultation, attendance at the emergency department, or accessing another service. Further questions included where respondents sought information about healthcare during the public health restrictions, the health status of members of their household, their experience of contracting and isolating due to COVID-19, and usual accessibility of healthcare. The stress scale from the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) was also included in the survey. Demographic information was captured on gender, age, marital status, medical card/GP card ownership, county of resident, level of education, age and number of children, and if the respondent was a healthcare worker.

Non-probability: Availability. Participants were recruited using Qualtrics™ market research panels which collects data from a diverse network of respondents. Respondents were randomly selected for the survey based on their existing profile which, for this study, was parents with children under the age of 16 in Ireland. Participants received an incentive for taking part. Parents in all counties in the Republic of Ireland were invited to participate. Sampling also aimed to ensure minimum representation of parents with children falling into the following age categories: 0-4 - at least 25% 5-9 - at least 25% 10-16 - at least 25%

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)