Parenting and Children’s Socioemotional Adjustment During COVID-19 Through a Multi-Level Ecological Systems Perspective

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a stressful time for parents and young children, eliciting anxiety, pandemic-related stress, and parenting stress (e.g., Gassman-Pines et al., 2020). The social isolation and increased childcare demands experienced by families highlight the importance of understanding how COVID-19 affects the parent-child relationship and parents’ and children’s socioemotional adjustment. Family functioning in general, and responsivity to stress specifically, involve multiple processes operating in several ecological systems: the individual (parent, child), the parent-child relationship, and the broader community (Belsky, 1984; Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Deater-Deckard & Panneton, 2017). The purpose of this symposium is to address the knowledge gap concerning socioemotional adjustment during COVID-19 from this ecological systems perspective. Starting at the individual level, the first paper will discuss the role of parental self-compassion in buffering the association between COVID-19 stress and parenting stress. The second paper will examine the role of parental characteristics in children’s well-being, focusing on maternal executive functions as buffering COVID-19 hardships on child internalizing problems. The third paper will present longitudinal data describing the effect of COVID-19 stress on child adjustment during the pandemic, and the buffering role of the parent-child relationship and family connection. Finally, at the community level, the fourth paper will explore the impact of COVID-19 on parental mentalization as measured within parenting social media before and during COVID-19. Altogether, by identifying both risk and resilience factors, these studies advance the field’s understanding of socioemotional adjustment during COVID-19 and provide avenues for intervention and policy to support families and children during the pandemic.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Chairs

• Tal Yatziv, Yale University

• Emily Reilly, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Individual Presentations

• Self-Compassion Moderates the Association between COVID-19 Stress and Parenting Stress in Parents of Toddlers - Presenting Author: Emily Reilly, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Non-Presenting Author: Bonny Donzella, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Non-Presenting Author: Shanna B. Mliner, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Non-Presenting Author: Megan R. Gunnar, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Maternal Executive Functions Buffer the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic Hardships on Child Internalizing Problems - Presenting Author: Catherine Diercks, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Madison Rachel Kelm, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Erika S. Lunkenheimer, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

• The Impact of COVID-19 Stress on Child Adjustment: Identifying Sources of Resilience - Presenting Author: Ashley M. Groh, University of Missouri - Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Jennifer Bohanek, University of Missouri - Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Nanxi Xu, Vanderbilt University; Non-Presenting Author: Amanda Bennett, University of Florida; Non-Presenting Author: Anna Blue, University of Missouri - Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Halley Felty, University of Missouri - Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Chase O’Neal, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Parental Mentalizing Under Stress: COVID-19 and Parents’ Use of Mental State Language on Parenting Social Media - Presenting Author: Tal Yatziv, Yale University; Non-Presenting Author: Almog Simchon, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Nicholas Manco, Yale Child Study Center; Non-Presenting Author: Michael Gilead, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Helena JV Rutherford, Yale University