Depressive Symptoms and Outdoor Leisure during COVID-19 in Parent-Youth Dyads

• In Event: Families and Youth in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examining Mental Health and Recreation

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant risk to youth and parents’ mental health and well-being, with up to 60% of surveyed adults in China and Spain reporting anxiety and/or depressive symptoms during the pandemic (Fullana et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). Leisure-time activities are notable contributors to well-being for both youth and parents (Brooks & Magnusson, 2007; Trainor et al., 2010), and family leisure specifically benefits adolescent emotional well-being (Offer, 2013). Outdoor leisure has also been associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms during the pandemic (Fullana et al., 2020). However, many people are experiencing changes in their outdoor leisure as a result of social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 (Rice et al., 2020). The current study therefore examines the associations between outdoor and family leisure and depressive symptoms in parent-youth dyads to increase our understanding of how leisure activities may help to support mental health during the pandemic.

Method: Parents (75.3% female; M age=45.96 years, SD=5.6) and youth (50.6% female; M age=14.35, SD=1.6; 80% white) in the U.S. completed online surveys about the effects of COVID-19 on their lives from May through August, 2020 (preliminary N=85 parent-youth dyads). Retrospective and current reports of outdoor leisure and family leisure were scored on a 0-4 scale from “None at all” to “More than 4 hours a day.” Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977).

Results: Preliminary results show similarly elevated rates of pandemic depression to other countries (e.g., Fullana et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020) with only 35.1% of youth and 36.3% of parents reporting symptoms below the standard cut point for depression risk, CES-D > 16 (Vilagut et al., 2016). With respect to outdoor leisure, parents reported an increase (pre-pandemic M=1.9, SD=0.85; during-pandemic M=2.2, SD=0.87; t=-3.59, p=.001), as did youth (pre-pandemic M=1.9, SD=0.89; during-pandemic M=2.2, SD=0.98; t=-2.87, p=.005). Parent and youth outdoor leisure were not correlated before the pandemic (r=0.2, p=.082) but were correlated during the pandemic (r=0.3, p=.009). With respect to family leisure, parents reported an increase (pre-pandemic M=1.6, SD=0.89; during-pandemic M=1.9, SD=0.84; t=-4.73, p<.001), as did youth (pre-pandemic M=4.7, SD=1.03; during-pandemic M=5.2, SD=1.07; t=-5.22, p<.001). Neither outdoor leisure nor family leisure were associated with depressive symptoms for parents or youth. Additional analyses will be conducted to examine whether these results vary within demographic subgroups (e.g., by parent and child gender, child age, family income level).

Discussion: Similar to prior studies (Fullana et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020), youth and parents in our sample reported depressive symptoms at rates higher than pre-pandemic samples (Roberts et al., 1991; Vilagut et al., 2016). In contrast to prior studies (e.g., Fullana et al., 2020), outdoor and family leisure did not mitigate these depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, the increase in frequency of, and correlation between, youth and parent leisure during the pandemic suggests that family members are influencing each other’s coping even if these changes are not sufficient to manage the stress of the pandemic.

Authors

• Jennifer P Agans, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Presenting Author

• Sunhye Bai, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author