Parenting Under Pressure: Inducing and Buffering Pathways of Familial Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Familial fear transmission resulting from mass trauma (e.g., health crises or terrorism) is well-documented, with parents’ transfer of threat information identified as a crucial mediator between parent and child fears (Remmerswaal & Muris, 2011). Extending those findings, we examined parent-inducing and parent-buffering pathways of child fear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parental reactions to COVID-19 were also explored as pathways to parenting stress. Caregivers of 389 children (aged 6-17 years, N = 324 families) completed online measures assessing COVID-19-related fears, anxiety, parental buffering, attachment, and sources of COVID-19 threat information. Surprisingly, child anxiety was not elevated in the sample. However, in the context of child virus-related fears, parent behaviors significantly impacted child functioning. Examining fear-inducing pathways, parent threat information transmission partially mediated the relationship between parent and child virus-related fears. Further, parent virus-related fears were significantly positively associated with parents’ tendency to relay COVID-19 threat information to their children. Significant fear-buffering pathways were also identified, such that higher levels of parental buffering behaviors mitigated the adverse effect of general COVID-19 threat information on child virus-related fears. For parent outcomes, parenting stress increased significantly pre- to post-onset of COVID-19 and was positively associated with parent state anxiety and direct experience with the virus. Although replication of results is needed to determine their generalizability, our current findings suggest that future investigations on appropriate interventions and supports should center on the dyadic caregiver-child relationship. As parent behaviors have direct implications on child responses to this crisis, efforts to manage adverse parental reactions to COVID-19—heightened parenting stress and anxiety—are crucial to ensuring wellbeing within the family unit.

Authors

• Chloe Schwartz, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Kristen A. Chu, University of California - Los Angeles
  Non-Presenting Author

• Emily Towner, University of California, Los Angeles
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alejandra Lemus, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natalie Hiromi Brito, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bridget Callaghan, Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author