Upside Down in COVID-19: Changes in Family Routines and Correlated Child Distress

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Family routines—the observable, predictable, repetitive behaviors of daily life—are part of the organization of family life that supports healthy child development in typical conditions (Spagnola & Fiese, 2007, Systema et al., 2001). Routines reinforce appropriate child behavior and are negatively associated with disruptive behavior symptoms (Lanza & Drabick, 2011). Guidance for establishing routines are often included to increase the perceived predictability and stability of children’s environments in parenting programs targeting child internalizing and externalizing mental health concerns (Harris et al., 2014). Routines may also foster children’s adaptation to stressful life events, such as divorce, loss, or natural disasters (Sandler et al., 2003). Many disaster-related materials highlight the importance of resuming familiar routines promptly following a disaster (Prinstein et al., 2010). In light of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, a major universal stressor, the regularity of daily routines and intensity of COVID-related child distress were examined in a sample of caregivers in South Texas. Importantly, most caregivers in this sample faced stressors prior to COVID-19 related to both poverty and membership in an ethnic minority group. This context emphasizes the importance of positive family practices, like routine, to support family functioning and child development (Ferretti & Bubb., 2014).

Data for this study comes from an ongoing longitudinal school-based study in a district in South Texas. Caregivers across 12 Title I schools completed a survey upon the start (N=270) and end (N=200) of their child’s Pre-Kindergarten year (Fall 2019-Summer 2020). Ninety percent of caregivers in the sample reported being Latinx (91.45% US Born). Fifty-three percent of the children were girls. An independent samples t-test examined differences between baseline and follow-up responses to the Child Routines Inventory – Daily Living Routines Subscale (Sytsma et al., 2001). Additionally, linear regressions examined associations between caregiver-reported child distress due to COVID-19 as reported on a Likert-like question (Kazak et al., 2020) and child’s daily routines, both reported at follow-up. Daily Living Routines scores were significantly lower at follow-up (M = 28.4, SD = 6.22) than at baseline (M = 31.1, SD = 5.27); t(5.13), p<.001. Our data points to a seemingly bidirectional association between the disruption of routines at follow-up and child COVID-distress: children whose parents reported higher levels of distress due to COVID-19 reported fewer routines (B =-0.34, p=.04), children whose parents endorsed fewer routines reported higher levels of child distress due to COVID-19 (B =-0.06, p=.04), and caregivers’ reported use of routines and distress were correlated (r = -0.147, p=.04). Quantitative findings align with qualitative data in which caregivers described stress related to disrupted routines.

Higher levels of routines were associated with lower levels of distress, suggesting that predictable routines may support children coping with stressors such as COVID-19. Additionally, there may be a bidirectional relationship between routines and child distress due to COVID-19. This underscores the need for supportive programming for both children and caregivers in light of the pandemic, especially for families experiencing poverty and inequities related to ethnic minority status.

Authors

• Megan J McBride, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Christian E Vazquez, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katherine E Hess, The University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah Kate Bearman, The University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Esther J Calzada, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author