Parents' Family Coping Strategies during the Pandemic: Effects on Parent and Child Well-Being

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic offers a unique challenge to the well-being of parents, children, and families. The pandemic and ensuing public health interventions have affected all aspects of family life, including family functioning, day-to-day routines, education, and mental and social well-being. In addition, some families have experienced significant financial strains such as layoffs and furloughs. Understanding the ways in which families can effectively adapt to such disruptions is important for future interventions tailored to providing support. The present study aims to understand the ways in which families are adapting to the coronavirus pandemic and the mental, behavioral, and social effects of such adaptations.
The participants were 277 individuals (174 families) who had previously participated in a trial of a family preventive intervention. In April and then again in May 2020, the families were invited to participate in an online survey regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The oldest child in each family (45.6% female) was an average of 9.9 years (SD= 1.0); Mothers and fathers were 39.5 (SD= 4.4) and 41.2 years (SD=4.7), respectively. Reflecting the original recruitment area, 94.7% of parents were non-Hispanic, white.
In the first wave (April), parents responded to the open-ended question, “How are you and your family best managing during these times? What advice would you offer to other families?” Families reported using a variety of strategies to cope, which we reliably coded into 4 domains: Family Togetherness (i.e. family time & activities), Flexible Family Management (i.e. modified schedules and routines), Assisting the Children (i.e. limiting electronics), and Healthy Living (i.e. getting outside). At both waves, parents completed valid, reliable measures regarding parent and child mental health and well-being, parent COVID-related worrying, and overall stress, child behavior problems, couple and coparenting relationship quality, parenting quality, and family cohesion,
Results of regression models utilizing month 1 scores as covariates indicated that Family Togetherness, Assisting the Children, and Healthy Living were not associated with change in any of the assessed family outcomes from month 1 to month 2. However, Flexible Family Management significantly predicted increases in child internalizing problems (β = .10, p < .05) and couple relationship satisfaction (β = .09, p < .05). Data collection is now in its sixth month, and additional analyses will be run to examine the longer-term effects of coping strategies on parent, child, and family well-being.
Parents who reported Flexible Family Management by modifying their schedules and routines, being generally more flexible, and making time for breaks and alone time, benefited in terms of higher couple relationship quality. However, these coping strategies were also associated with children exhibiting increased internalizing behaviors. In future work, we will assess whether these coping strategies led to increased child internalizing, or whether such strategies were deployed by parents responding to the needs of vulnerable children, whose well-being declined further over the course of a month.

Authors

• Joseph Anthony Cifelli, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Presenting Author

• Lindsey Gedaly, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mark E. Feinberg, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michelle Hostetler, Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author