Poster #77 - The Moderating Role of Stress in the Family Check-Up Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a source of stress and mental health difficulties for youth and adults (Cooke et al., 2020; Patrick et al., 2020), academic difficulties for youth (Hammerstein et al., 2021), and disruptions to family functioning (Browne et al., 2021). Amidst these difficulties, access to in-person intervention services decreased during the pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020). Thus, it is important to make intervention services accessible for families who cannot access in-person services. To that end, we will investigate whether a novel version of the Family Checkup Online (FCU-O) designed to assist families during the pandemic is effective at improving youth depression, anxiety, and academic performance. FCU-O is based on the Family Check-Up (FCU; Dishion et al., 2012), a well-validated family-centered intervention using motivational interviewing and assessment to tailor services to individual families.
Additionally, levels of pandemic-induced stress varied across families (Feinberg et al., 2022; Hussong et al., 2022). Because families were differentially affected by the pandemic, we aim to determine whether the FCU-O is differentially effective based on stress. Other versions of the FCU have been shown to be more effective for families with greater risk (e.g., Pelham, 2017, Stormshak, 2019). Thus, based on prior work, we hypothesize that (1) parents with higher pandemic-induced stress and general stress will engage more with the intervention and (2) the intervention will be effective at decreasing youth depression and anxiety and improving youth academic performance, with general stress and pandemic-induced stress serving as moderators. Specifically, families with higher levels of stress will display greater benefits from receiving the intervention.
To investigate the FCU-O, we randomized 161 families with children ages 10-14 to an intervention condition or a waitlist control condition. Parents completed assessments at baseline, 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months, while youth only completed assessments at baseline and 6 months. Parents reported their own general stress and presence of pandemic-related stressors, as well as their children’s anxiety, depression, and academic performance. Youth reported their own depression, anxiety, and academic performance. Data regarding intervention engagement was also collected. Data for the 6-month timepoint is currently being collected (with completion of data collection anticipated by December 2022). Demographics are presented in Table 1 and Table 2.
To test our first hypothesis, we will use linear regression, with pandemic-related stress and general stress predicting intervention engagement, measured by time spent in the application and number of virtual visits with a Family Consultant. For parent-reported outcomes, we will use latent growth modeling to determine whether invention condition influenced youth outcomes and whether general stress or pandemic-related stress moderated intervention effectiveness. For child-reported outcomes, we will use analysis of covariance to determine whether intervention condition influenced 6-month outcomes.
Though access to in-person services has increased since the height of the pandemic, many families still face barriers to accessing services, such as lack of childcare and transportation (Stormshak et al., 2019). Therefore, determining whether mobile parenting interventions are effective is an important target for improving youth and family outcomes, even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

Authors

• Rachel Noel McClaine, Case Western Reserve University
  Presenting Author

• Arin M Connell, Case Western Reserve University

• Beth Stormshak, University of Oregon