COVID-19, Poverty, and Increased Child Stress: Associations to Parental Depression, Coping, and Parenting Behavior Changes

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented change to the lives of children and families. It is important to consider how COVID-19 is impacting families, particularly those living under vulnerable circumstances, to determine how to best support families during this time. Parents living in poverty are at greater risk of experiencing psychological distress, such as depression (Sandstrom et al., 2019). Furthermore, parents living in poverty use more negative parenting behaviors (e.g. harsh and unresponsive parenting) (Repetti et al., 2002) and engage in more negative coping behaviors (e.g. smoking) compared to their wealthier counterparts (Najman et al., 1998). Children who grow up in poverty experience higher levels of stress due to an accumulation of environmental and social risk factors (Evans & Kim, 2007). These risks are likely to be exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to (1) investigate the associations between poverty, parental depression, changes in parent behavior, and child stress and (2) investigate the associations between poverty, parental depression, changes in negative coping strategies, and child stress, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end of April, 2020, 1009 parents (88.8% mothers, 81.9% White) of children 0-12 years old completed an online survey regarding parenting experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using reported annual income prior to any COVID-19 related changes, families were identified as living at or below (20.8%) or above 200% of the federal poverty level. Parental depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 item (Kroenke et al., 2009). Parents were asked about changes in their use of 7 negative coping strategies (e.g., using drugs or alcohol) and 5 negative parenting behaviors (e.g., yelling) since the start of COVID-19, both using a 3-point scale (0=less than usual, 1=same as usual, 2=more than usual). Parents reported on increases in 17 common child stress behaviors (e.g., whining, clinging) since the start of COVID-19 (more than usual=1, no change=0).
Simple and serial mediation models were tested using PROCESS (Hayes, 2020). Results for the final models (Figure 1) present a significant double mediation between poverty, parental depression, changes in negative parenting behaviors, and increased child stress as well as a significant double mediation between poverty, parental depression, changes in negative coping behaviors, and increased child stress (Table 1). The results suggest that the impact of poverty on increased child stress during COVID-19 can be explained by parental depression and behavior changes. Continued support for families, including financial, parenting, and caregiving support, is needed to help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on families’ mental health, parent-child relationships, and overall well-being.

Authors

• Sarah M Braaten, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Kerrie Fanning, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Non-Presenting Author

• Margaret L. Kerr, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Non-Presenting Author