Caregivers’ Experiences During COVID-19 and Their Young Child’s Behavior

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

Financial strain and mental health challenges, such as feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress, have consistently been associated with lower quality parenting practices and poor child outcomes (Claessens et al., 2015; Prickett, in press). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased financial strain and challenged mental health for many families (Brown et al., in press). However, depending on types of employment, some families have experienced no change or even increases in work, while others have experienced job loss, reduced work hours, and job insecurity. Recent research documents how financial concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic are related to increased anxiety symptoms and worse mental health (Wilson et al., 2020) as well as harsher discipline practices (Lawson et al., 2020).
Caregivers’ mental health is related to parenting practices and child outcomes, including less responsive and sensitive parenting, less stimulating home environments, and worse social, emotional, and academic outcomes for children (Carter et atl., 2001; Claessens et al., 2015; Tan, et al., 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic might increase feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress that influence parenting, which in turn impacts children’s development. Yet, characteristics of caregivers may help mitigate some of these stressors. Research indicates that having a sense of purpose may buffer the impacts of stress (Hill et al., 2018; Homan & Kong, 2020; Ryff, 1989).
As social distancing practices persist in this pandemic, questions arise as to how families’ differing experiences of financial strain and mental health (stress, depression, anxiety) relate to young children’s behaviors and to what extent could a sense of purpose play a protective role. To answer these questions, we surveyed 293 caregivers when they brought a child under 8 years to the emergency department of a Children’s Hospital in the Southwest US. We hypothesized that increased financial strain and feelings of stress, depressions, and anxiety would be associated with more negative child behaviors, while a sense of purpose would moderate that relationship.
See Table 1 for sample descriptives. Respondents completed an anonymous online survey on a hospital iPad that asked about life during COVID-19, including changes in employment, difficulty in paying bills and keeping up with expenses and their feelings of stress (PPS; Cohen et al., 1983), anxiety, depression (PHQ-4; Kroenke at al., 2009), and sense of purpose. Parents reported changes in seven of their children’s behaviors (e.g., crying, eating, communication) by rating how much each behavior had changed since the pandemic began (less, same, a little more, a lot more). OLS regressions were used to see if financial strain and mental health predicted children’s behaviors and whether sense of purpose moderated those associations.
As expected, caregivers’ financial strain, stress, depression and anxiety had a positive and statistically significant relation to negative behaviors. However, when sense of purpose was included, the significance of these main effects reduced. See Table 2. Policymakers and practitioners aiming to limit threats to young children’s development during the COVID-19 pandemic should, based on our findings, consider targeted strategies to reduce financial strain, support mental health, and cultivate caregivers’ sense of purpose.

Authors

• Melissa Dahlin, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie M Reich, University of California - Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marina Angelica Kerlow, University of Maryland - College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natasha J Cabrera, University of Maryland - College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Theodore W. Heyming, Children's Hospital of Orange County
  Non-Presenting Author