Negative and Positive Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Parents and Children

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an abrupt shift in the lives of parents and families, which can contribute to significant negative effects on parents’ and children’s physical, psychological, and social well-being (Prime, Wade, & Browne, 2020; American Psychological Association, 2020a; Rosen et al., 2020). The current study used a mixed method design to explore the negative and positive impacts of COVID-19 on the lives of parents and children.
Method
Participants were recruited via social media and Mechanical Turk. Our sample consisted of 91 children (Mage = 12.4 years) and 595 parents. Children were 51.6% males, 70.0% white, 10.0% Hispanic/Latinx, 8.9% Asian, and 6.7% Black. A majority of children were in either middle school (41.8%) or elementary school (34.1%). Parents identified as 40.3% men, 69.2% White, 12.1% Black, 10.1% Latinx, and 6.6% Asian, and were currently working full (69.4%) or part time (11.4%). Parents completed the Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory (EPII; Grasso, Briggs-Gowan, Ford, & Carter, 2020) which assessed 91 family-level impacts, and children completed a modified, 54-item version. Participants were also asked open-ended questions assessing the unexpected positive and negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results
On average, parents endorsed 18 negative and 9 positive family-level impacts, and children endorsed 19 negative and 9 positive impacts on the EPII (see Table 1). For parents, the most common negative impacts included having a child in the home who could not go to school (87.9%) and family celebrations cancelled or restricted (71.1%); children identified seeing their teacher less (94.4%) and spending less time with friends in person (93.4%). The most common positive impacts for parents included spending more quality time with children (91.1%) and spending more quality time with family and friends (78.3%); children identified spending more time with immediate family (93.4%) and spending more time playing games and doing fun activities (81.1%).
In response to open-ended questions, 12 themes of unexpected negative changes according to parents and 7 according to children were found (See Table 2). The most common themes according to parents included restricted freedom/access to care, goods, and services (18.39%) and financial difficulties due to job uncertainty and/or increased expenses (17.9%); children most commonly reported less frequent interactions with friends (31.9%) and no negative effects experienced (23.1%). 9 themes of unexpected positive change were found according to parents and 4 according to children. The most common themes according to parents included increased frequency and quality of social interactions (63.7%) and beginning or discovering new hobbies and activities (24.5%); children most commonly reported more time with friends and family (34.7%) and more free time to engage in hobbies (25.3%).
Discussion
Aside from educational disruptions, the majority of the negative impacts were social in nature, aligning with Prime and colleagues’ (2020) framework. Despite the social disruptions reported, participants appeared to capitalize on their new situation by building stronger social bonds with friends and family both in person and electronically, which may help buffer against psychological and behavioral maladjustment during this time (American Psychological Association, 2020a; Rosen et al., 2020).

Authors

• Elissa Rosebraugh, Wichita State University
  Presenting Author

• Breanna Johnston, Wichita State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Samantha Gregus Slade, Wichita State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melissa Faith, Johns Hopkins Medicine
  Non-Presenting Author