Changes in Parents’ Involvement During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Changes in Children’s Behavior

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Parent involvement has been shown to have positive effects on children’s cognitive, social, and behavioral outcomes (Sylva, 2004). For many parents, involvement with their children has likely changed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. For those who have shown an increase in involvement with their child during the pandemic, it is likely that they may observe more of their child’s behaviors than before. An open question is whether the increased time with their children leads parents to perceive more of their children’s socially competent behaviors or whether it leads parents to focus on children’s behavior problems. In this study, we examine whether parents’ perception of whether their involvement changed from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic predicts whether they in turn report more socially competent behaviors or more problematic behaviors in their children.

This study will use data from a self-report survey of parents with 2- to 4-year-old children. Our total sample size will be 200 parents; 61 parents (M = 34.75 years; 87% female) have enrolled in the study as of 9/28/2020. The baseline survey includes measures of children’s socially competent behavior and problematic behavior (Goodman, 1997), the perceived change in child behavior from pre-COVID-19 to current (an adaptation of Goodman, 1997), a self-reported parental involvement (adapted from Fragile Families, 2018), and parents’ perceived change in involvement from pre-COVID-19 to current (researcher-generated).

Path analyses in a structural equation modeling framework will be conducted to investigate the aims of this study. We hypothesize that parents who report higher initial levels of involvement will perceive more socially competent behaviors and fewer problematic behaviors in their children (a main effect). However, because the pandemic is unprecedented, our hypothesis regarding the association between change in involvement and change in perceptions of children’s behavior is exploratory—it could be that greater proximity leads parents to focus on the positive (i.e., more perceived competence) or negative (i.e., more behavior problems) aspects of their children’s behaviors.

This study can shed light on how family interactions are affected by forced togetherness in situations like the current pandemic. Such knowledge could help inform interventions to support parents and children during times of stress and isolation.

Authors

• Haley E Rough, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Hannah Michelle Berendzen, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth T. Gershoff, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer M. Barton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author