Implications of COVID-19 School Closures for Sibling Dynamics Among Latinx Children: A Daily Diary Study

• In Event: Individual and Family Functioning in Vulnerable Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

With schools closing due to COVID-19, children spent their 35-hour school week at home, during which siblings were many children’s primary companions. Research documenting siblings’ roles in children’s well-being (Buist et al., 2013) highlights the importance of studying sibling relationships during this period. Latinx families are at disproportionate risk for COVID-19 mortality (National Center for Health Statistics, 2020), and they experience other inequities that may exacerbate COVID-19 effects (Bixler et al., 2020). Equally significant are Latinx families’ strengths, including their strong familism values (Updegraff et al., 2010). Accordingly, this study examined (1) the implications of COVID-19 school closures for sibling dynamics among U.S. Latinx school-aged children, and (2) family and cultural factors that may moderate school closure effects.

Data came from a study of Latinx families in Arizona, with home visits and surveys pre-pandemic (Fall 2019; T1) and seven nightly diary calls during the outbreak (February—May 2020; T2). The analyses focused on 215 Latinx children (47% female; Mage = 9.71, SD = 1.20) from 116 families (T1 family income median = $21,000, SD = $26,931). Independent variables (T2; daily) included school closure (i.e., before or on/after 3/16/2020—the school closure date) and days since school closure. Dependent variables (T2; daily), were child-reported sibling positivity and negativity (Blyth & Foster-Clark, 1982; Stocker & McHale, 1992), which were dichotomized given ceiling (positivity) and floor (negativity) effects. Multilevel logistic regression tested (1) main effects of school closure and days since closure on sibling positivity and negativity, and (2) moderation by T1 family income (log-transformed), sibship size, children’s enculturation status (Cuéllar et al., 1995), and sibling positivity and negativity pre-pandemic.

Results for daily sibling positivity revealed no main effects, but a significant interaction between days since school closure and sibship size, OR = 1.03, 95% CI = [1.00, 1.05], p = .032: With larger sibships only, days since school closure was positively associated with sibling positivity, OR = 1.06, 95% CI = [1.01, 1.12], p = .027. For daily sibling negativity, the main effects were again nonsignificant, but the model revealed interactions between school closure and both family income (OR = .81, 95% CI = [.69, .96], p = .013) and child enculturation status (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = [1.15, 2.23], p = .006): With lower but not higher family income, school closure was related to higher sibling negativity, OR = 2.22, 95% CI = [1.01, 4.87], p = .046; further, with higher but not lower enculturation status, school closure was related to higher sibling negativity, OR = 2.49, 95% CI = [1.22, 5.12], p = .013.

Results suggest that the implications of COVID-19 school closure for Latinx children’s sibling relationships depend on their family and cultural contexts. We discuss how risk and protective factors may make a difference for sibling relationships—central in Latinx families—in this vulnerable population at a challenging time. Whereas children with more sibling companions at home became closer, those from low-income families and with stronger enculturation were vulnerable to the negative implications of school closure.

Authors

• Xiaoran Sun, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Kimberly Updegraff, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan McHale, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anna K Hochgraf, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Annabella M. Gallagher, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard University
  Non-Presenting Author