Risk and Resilience: Understanding Early Head Start Families’ Well-being and Home Learning Experiences During COVID-19

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - School Readiness/Childcare

Abstract

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has profoundly impacted families globally. In the U.S., widespread stay-at-home orders were issued and increases in financial insecurity, psychological distress, and disruptions to typical schooling have been continually observed. Although COVID-19 has pervasively impacted, families of ethnic minority backgrounds and of low-income have been particularly vulnerable during this crisis, with an increased risk for illness and unemployment (National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, 2020; Belmonte, 2020). Moreover, the recent shift to virtual schooling has further increased the demands placed on parents, thus exacerbating parenting stress and general daily stressors. Previous work has highlighted the detrimental effects of parenting stress on the parent-child relationship, parenting practices, and children’s well-being (Mistry et al., 2002; Tharner et al., 2012). While strong attention has focused on understanding the host of adverse outcomes that families are currently experiencing, it’s crucial to identify factors that may mitigate the negative effects due to the crisis in order to support families’ well-being. One factor to consider is parental self-efficacy, given the established link to positive parent-child relationships and in fostering optimal home learning environments (Albanese et al., 2018).
The current study aims to explore associations between parenting stress and parental self-efficacy on children’s social-emotional functioning and home learning practices. Study recruitment and baseline data collection is expected to be completed by December 2020. Families (n=30) are being recruited as part of a brief telehealth school readiness intervention, designed to support Early Head Start (EHS) families in their transition to Head Start (HS) preschools. The sample will be comprised of children (32-38 months old) enrolled in EHS, and their parents. As part of pre-intervention assessments, parents will report on family demography, parenting stress via the Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI-SF; Abidin, 1995), their use of various practices designed to promote children’s learning at home (e.g. language, early literacy, and numeracy) via an adapted version of the Home Literacy Environment Questionnaire (HLEQ; Lonigan & Farver, 2002), and their self-efficacy in managing a range of situations relating to raising young children via the Toddler Care Questionnaire (TCQ; Gross et al., 1994). Parents will report on children’s social-emotional functioning via the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third edition (BASC-3; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2015). We hypothesize that higher levels of parenting stress will be associated with less learning experiences at home and a decrease in children’s social-emotional functioning. Further, we hypothesize that parental self-efficacy will be associated with more learning experiences at home and an increase in children’s social-emotional functioning.
Preliminary data analysis using descriptive statistics and correlational analyses will be employed to examine associations between demographic and outcome variables. Independent regression analyses will be conducted to explore the relationship between parenting stress and parental self-efficacy on children’s social-emotional functioning and home learning experiences.
This study will help to elucidate our understanding of the psychological well-being of children and families during COVID-19, and will potentially inform future efforts aimed at supporting parents’ well-being and children’s early learning experiences during a global health crisis.

Authors

• Katherine Zambrana, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
  Presenting Author

• Katie Hart, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author