Measuring Parents’ and Children’s Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a substantial global impact on individuals’ physical, social, and mental well-being (Findlay & Arim, 2020). While researchers have developed measurement tools to assess the impact of other large-scale disasters (e.g., Silver et al, 2010, Yule et al., 1994), these measures are not designed to capture the effects of social isolation, resource scarcity, and changes in routine experienced during the pandemic (Dubey et al., 2020). Quantifying these stressors represents a vital first step to understanding the psychological impact of the pandemic on the community. Children and their families are particularly vulnerable to unique stressors associated with COVID-19, given children’s potential sensitivity to isolation (Ellis et al., 2020) and the increased interaction and potential for conflict within locked-down families (Lee & Ward, 2020). Developing parallel measures of parents’ and children’s responses to COVID-19 will permit a better understanding of the nature and interplay of parents’ and children’s adaptation to and after the pandemic.
272 children (M = 14.15 years) and their primary caregivers from a longitudinal, community-based project participated in this study. Participants responded digitally to questionnaires administered every two weeks across a sixteen-week period (March 23rd through July 13th, 2020). Questionnaire items were developed based on a combination of expert opinion and relevant items from other scales (e.g., Epidemic – Pandemic Impacts Inventory; Grasso et al., 2020). Questionnaires covered COVID-related beliefs and behaviours, as well as emotional adjustment to recent changes (20 items total). Additional questions (25 items) regarding the impact of the pandemic on participants’ day-to-day lives were given to the caregiver once per month given their likely relative stability (e.g., change in job status) and to reduce participant burden. Brief self-report measures of children’s and parents’ depressive and anxious symptoms were also collected (i.e., Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, & Youth Self Report; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001, Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams 2001; Spitzer et al., 2006) Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs) were conducted to identify hypothesized latent factors within the behavioural responses questionnaire; Concern, Avoidance, and Impact factor scores were identified and were found to have substantial variation between and within participants over the course of the sixteen-week sampling period. Correlations between these factors and children’s and parent’s self-reported concurrent symptoms were also examined, showing predictive validity of the COVID scales. This newly developed measure shows promise as a tool for investigating the impacts of COVID-specific factors on children and their parents’ functioning and mental health.

Authors

• Andrew R. Daoust, Western University
  Presenting Author

• Kasey Stanton
  Non-Presenting Author

• Matthew R. J. Vandermeer, University of Western Ontario
  Non-Presenting Author

• Pan Liu, University of Western Ontario
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kate Harkness, Queen's University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth P. Hayden, University of Western Ontario
  Non-Presenting Author