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Parent Psychological Well-being and its Association with Child Well-being During COVID-19 Across Cultures

Thu, April 8, 2:45 to 4:15pm EDT (2:45 to 4:15pm EDT), Virtual

Abstract

Parents’ psychological well-being is linked to children’s well-being (Harold et al., 2012). Evidence shows that parent trauma and maternal depression are associated with risk for trauma, psychopathology, and worsened behavioral outcomes in children (Goodman et al., 2011; Yehuda et al., 2001). These associations between parents’ and children’s psychological well-being may be exacerbated when they face adversity in their external environments. During these times, children look to their parents for support and guidance (Ainsworth, 1992; Feinman,1982). In the midst of a global pandemic, while experiencing greater challenges (i.e., uncertainty about the future, loved ones being diagnosed with COVID-19, economic strain), parents also need to provide additional care for their children as school and child services are limited due to social distancing (Pew Research Center, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts worldwide (Liu et al., 2020; Patrick et al., 2020; Spinelli et al., 2020), yet the ways in which countries have responded to the pandemic varies (WHO, 2020). Since March 2020, COVID-19 has heavily impacted both the U.S. and Italy, with steep rises in positive cases and deaths. Variation in responses to the pandemic at the national level as well as differing cultural practices between these countries may disproportionately affect families.

This investigation aimed to cross-culturally explore how COVID-19 stress exposure relates to parents’ psychological well-being and whether COVID-19 stressors moderate the link between parent and child well-being. Parents (7% fathers, 92% mothers, 1% non-binary, altogether) from the U.S. (N = 306) and Italy (N = 79) completed online surveys (end of March-early May) about their own psychological well-being (PTSD symptoms, depression), COVID-19 trauma-related stressors (e.g., hospitalization of loved one, death of loved one), and child’s well-being (PTSD and internalizing symptoms). Our research questions are as follows: (1) Are COVID-19 trauma-related stressors associated with parent psychological well-being, and does this association differ across the two nations?, and (2) Is parent PTSD and depression associated with child PTSD and internalizing symptoms, and is this association moderated by COVID-19 trauma-related stress exposure?

Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that after accounting for time, COVID-19 stress exposure was positively associated with parent PTSD and depressive symptoms in both samples. Moderation analyses revealed that the association between COVID-19 stressors and PTSD was not different between the two countries; this was also the case for the positive association between COVID-19 stressors and parents’ depression. Finally, parent PTSD and depression were positively associated with child PTSD and internalizing symptoms; however, COVID-19 stress exposure did not moderate these associations. We will discuss these findings and their implications for our understanding of the potential cultural features that may have contributed to these outcomes as well as the importance of focusing on parental psychological well-being as a way of promoting whole-family wellness. Child psychological well-being is linked to parent psychological well-being, regardless of exposure to COVID-related stressors, which may suggest that children rely on parents to make meaning of changes within their environment.

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