COVID-19-related Parental Stress and Mental Health Consequences for Parents and Adolescents: A Family Stress and Relational Mediation Model

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

Introduction.

The present study draws from family stress (Conger et al., 1994) and relational perspectives (Bersheid & Ammazzalorso, 2001). First, consistent with a family stress perspective, COVID-19-related changes in the family context (e.g., income losses) may predict increased psychological stress on behalf of parents, which, in turn, generates distressed feelings and poorer mental health. Distressed parents, in turn, are more authoritarian, rejecting, and hostile toward their children, which can contribute to youth’s mental health. Further, we expect that conflictual parent-child relationships erode parent-child intimacy, which, also influences adolescents’ mental health (Kim, 2006). Second, consistent with a relational perspective, parents distressed feelings may be directly transmitted to children.

Methods.

Participants. Data were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study of families. In May 2020, a special assessment was embedded into this study to explore linkages between family processes and parents’ and youth’s adjustment during the pandemic. Data for the present study were limited to this cross-section. Participants including one parent (85% mothers; 15% fathers) and two adolescent-aged siblings (on average, 15.67 and 13.14 years old, respectively) from 462 families (1,386 participants). Data were collected from each family member via web-based surveys.

Measures.

Parent Stress was assessed using the 7-item stress subscale from the Rhode Island Coping and Stress Scale (Fava, et al., 1998).

Parent-Child Conflict and Parent-Child Intimacy were measured separately for mothers and fathers as reported by children –constituting two separate latent constructs. Parent-child intimacy was measured via Blyth and Thiel’s (1982) 8-item measure of relational intimacy. Parent-child conflict (Smetana, 1989) was measured via 12 items.

Mental Health for both parents and youth was assessed via self-reports on the BSI-18 (Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983). Parents’ years of education was included as a control variable.

Analysis. The study hypotheses were tested using structural equations models with latent constructs defined by multiple indicators and FIML estimation. CFI, RMSEA and χ2/df were used to assess the model fit.

Results.

Results are summarized in Figure 1. Parents’ reports of stress were significantly related to parent-child relationship conflict and parents’ adverse mental health. Parent-child conflict was negatively associated with parent-child intimacy and positively with adolescents’ maladjustment. Parent-child intimacy was negatively related to youth’s mental health symptoms. Parents’ mental health also was directly associated with adolescents’ mental health. In sum, parents’ COVID-19-related stress shaped adolescents’ mental health through conflictual parent-child relationships, eroded parent-child intimacy, and parents’ own mental health symptoms. In total, 20% of variance of adolescents’ mental health, 25% of parents’ mental health, 21% of parent-child intimacy, and 2% of parent-child conflict were explained by the model. The sum of the indirect effect from COVID-19-related stress to adolescents’ mental health was .05.

Discussion and Conclusions.

The present study provides empirical support for the hypothesized pathways linking COVID-19-related stress to parents’ and adolescent’ mental health. Consistent with the family stress perspective, stressful COVID-19-related experiences were linked to parents’ and adolescents’ mental health through strained parent-child relations. Consistent with the relational perspective, parents’ mental health symptoms spilled over to children through their relationships.

Authors

• Thulitha Wickrama, Institute for Health and Social Behavior
  Presenting Author

• Shawn D Whiteman, Utah State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brian C Kelly, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer L Maggs, Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah Mustillo, University of Nortre Dame
  Non-Presenting Author