COVID-19 and Protective Factors in Family Life: A Developmental Perspective

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major public health event characterized by unprecedented disruptions to daily lives. The family context has taken on even greater importance for shaping child development given limited access to resources outside of the home. Despite emerging information on how COVID-19 is affecting individuals, less is known about its effects on families, protective factors that may mitigate impacts, or how impacts may vary based on family characteristics or child developmental stage. The proposed symposium includes three papers that assess COVID-19-related stressors and family-level experiences among parents and children from infancy through adolescence. The first study examines COVID-19-related stress for families with toddler and preschool-aged children, and considers how the pandemic may be experienced differently among families of color. The second study examines family routines prior to and during the pandemic, and considers whether routines buffer relations between COVID-19 stress on family well-being among families with children and adolescents. The final study considers parental mindfulness processes that may mitigate impacts of COVID-19-related stress exposure on parent emotional distress. Our Discussant, a leading developmental scientist, will identify themes that resonate among all three papers to illustrate similarities in COVID-19 experiences for families. The Discussant will also highlight developmental themes emerging across the papers in order to contrast how family-level COVID-19 impacts may vary with development. This group of papers should contribute to our collective understanding of factors that facilitate functioning among families during this global crisis.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Chair

• Amy Bohnert, Loyola University Chicago

Discussant

• Alison Leslie Miller, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Individual Presentations

• Stress & COVID-19: The Unique Experiences of Parents of Toddler and Preschool-Aged Children - Presenting Author: Megan M. Julian, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor; Non-Presenting Author: Jessica Lynn Riggs, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor; Non-Presenting Author: Kristyn Wong, Michigan State University; Non-Presenting Author: Alissa Christine Huth-Bocks, Wayne State University; Non-Presenting Author: Maria Muzik, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor; Non-Presenting Author: Katherine L Rosenblum, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Life Interrupted: How Family Routines Buffer Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Non-Presenting Author: Carolyn Rose Bates, Loyola University Chicago; Presenting Author: Elizabeth Rea, Loyola University Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Laura Nicholson, Loyola University Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Hannah Hagy, Loyola University Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Amy Bohnert, Loyola University Chicago

• Mindfulness Processes that Mitigate COVID-Related Stress in Parents in the United States - Presenting Author: Sharon Lo, Pacific University; Non-Presenting Author: Nicole Wen, Brunel University London; Non-Presenting Author: Alison Leslie Miller, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor