The Effects of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Low-Income Mothers and Children

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Correlates of child and family risk factors for maternal and child wellbeing have been extensively investigated. Natural disasters that occur during ongoing longitudinal data collection provide unique opportunities to investigate causality in these relationships. Pre-existing circumstances play a critical role in the susceptibility/resilience of families on the adverse mental health effects of crises, such as a decline in income (Ponnet, 2014). Furthermore, research suggests that parenting a child who is ill impacts parents’ mental health (Cohn et al., 2020). Therefore, we hypothesized that having a child who has a history of frequent upper respiratory illness (URI) is likely to be an additional risk factor to families during this pandemic. COVID-19 has led to significant job loss (Coibion et al., 2020) and greater rates of stress, anxiety and depression in the general population (Wang et al., 2020) with disproportionate impacts on low-income communities (Gross et al., 2020). Mothers, in particular, are at risk for adverse outcomes from the pandemic (Cameron et al., 2020; Thapa et al., 2020). In the current study, we examine the joint roles of economic disruption and pre-existing child health conditions in explaining the effects of the pandemic on changes in mental health in mothers and children. Specifically, we examine the changes in mother/child mental health functioning pre and post pandemic, within a sample of low-income families. This study is part of an ongoing longitudinal study in Toronto, Canada. Data were collected at two time-points. Pre-COVID-19 data were collected when children were between 30-42 months of age. COVID-19 data collection is currently underway. The following data were collected pre-COVID-19: children’s history of URI (frequency of colds, antibiotic-use and doctor visits) demographic factors (maternal education and marital status), maternal mental health (depression, anxiety and stress measured using validated survey measures), and child mental health (measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: SDQ). The COVID-19 wave of data collection included most of these variables and questions about COVID-19-related financial challenges (yes/no) and work changes (yes/no).For this abstract we report data from 108 mothers between the ages of 29 to 42. Sixty percent of mothers identify as non-white and 41% primarily speak a language other than English. Data collection is ongoing, and we expect a substantially larger sample to be available for the final paper. Preliminary results reveal that the pandemic has resulted in increased anxiety, depression and stress for mothers (Table 1). A path analysis (Figure 1) found that mothers who had increased anxiety rates experienced financial and work stressors during COVID-19 and had children with a history of URI. Changes in work related to COVID-19 were associated with lower levels of reported maternal stress. Continuing to work as usual after the pandemic started (e.g., grocery store cashiers) combined with closures in child care were likely to cause maternal stress. Child functioning measured by the SDQ had not changed pre/post-pandemic. Effects on the SDQ may take longer to manifest, therefore, ongoing research with multiple follow-up assessments is going to be critical for understanding effects on children.

Authors

• Samantha Caitlin Burns, University of Toronto
  Presenting Author

• Sumayya Saleem, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer Jenkins, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author

• Olesya Falenchuk, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michal Perlman, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author