Parents’ Mental Health during School Closures due to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of School Support

• In Event: Parenting in a pandemic: Family adversity and resilience during the onset of COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction
School closures due to COVID-19 created a profound challenge for families. Many parents were forced to take on roles as parent, educator, and employee within the same space. Researchers are just beginning to understand the mental health impact of COVID-19. We examined parents’ mental health (i.e., anxiety and depression) during school closures, associations with parents’ perceptions of school support, and considered processes that moderate and mediate this association. First, we assessed rates of depression and anxiety in parents. Next, we considered whether parents’ perceptions of support from their child’s school related to depression and anxiety. This question was guided by the Buffering Hypothesis (see Cohen and Wills, 1985), which posits that families that receive social support may be resilient against the impact of stress. Next, we considered if the impact of COVID-19 moderated this association. Finally, we hypothesized that this association could be explained (i.e., mediated) by daily routines and household chaos.

Method
Parents were recruited from existing participant registries in Detroit, Michigan. Parents included in this sample (n = 152) had a child enrolled in school (preschool to middle school) during the Spring, 2020. More than half of parents were Black (n = 99; 65.1%). Parental Depression and Anxiety were measured with PROMIS scales (Pilkonis et al., 2011). Anxiety and Depression scores were converted to t-scores with 60 considered the clinical cutoff. School support was measured with items created for this investigation (e.g., “I feel support by my child’s school”). COVID-19 impact was measured with items asking about pandemic-related changes to family income, food access, and health care (Kaufman & Stoddard, 2020). Household Chaos was measured with the Chaos, Hubbub, and Order Scale (Matheny, Wachs, Ludwig, & Phillips, 1995) and Routines were measured with items created for this investigation (e.g., “We have meals at about the same time each day”).

Results
Of the 152 parent participants, 27.2% reported clinical levels of depression and 34.2% reported clinical levels of anxiety. Regression analyses, controlling for COVID-19 Impact and parents’ race, showed that school support was significantly associated with parents’ depression (β = -.29, p = .001) and anxiety (β = -.18, p = .03). Using the PROCESS macro, we tested mediation and moderation analyses. We found support for the moderating role of COVID-19 impact on the association between school support and depression but not anxiety (see Table 1). Specifically, school support was associated with parental depression when COVID-19 impact was low or moderate, but not when COVID-19 impact was high. Four analyses were computed to examine mediation (see Table 2). For both depression and anxiety, support was found for mediation for analyses examining routines and household chaos.

Discussion
While limited by being cross-sectional, this investigation adds to information about rates of depression and anxiety in parents during school closures due to COVID-19. Unique results suggest that for parents that have not been considerably impacted by the pandemic, school support can buffer against the impact of stress on parents mental health in part by helping to create structure and reduce chaos.

Authors

• Lucy McGoron, Wayne State University
  Presenting Author

• Julie Wargo Aikins, Wayne State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Toni Lewis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christopher Joseph Trentacosta, Wayne State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marjorie Beeghly, Wayne State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Towner, Wayne State University School of Medicine
  Non-Presenting Author