Pre-existing Parental Stress and Child Behavior Predict Child and Family Stress in Adjusting During COVID-19

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated stay-at-home orders and school closures drastically altered the lives of children and families worldwide including those from military families. Adjusting to these changes may lead to increased stress and mental health challenges (Salari et al., 2020), which are associated with poor adaptation, including child maltreatment (Brown et al., 2020). While military families show considerable resilience, understanding which military children and families may be most at risk for experiencing stress while adapting to changes associated with COVID-19 is important for practitioners focused on ensuring the healthy functioning of these families. The purpose of this prospective study is to examine how pre-existing factors are associated with child and family stress while adjusting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we hypothesize that child and family stress while adjusting to changes associated with COVID-19 will each be predicted by parental stress, parent mental health and child behavior.

Methods:
Parents (N= 148) completed surveys in Spring 2019 and Spring 2020 as part of a larger, ongoing study to examine how schools can support military children and families. At baseline, all parents had either a 3rd or 5th grade student in a public school district located near a U.S. military installation. In Spring 2019, parents reported: their parenting stress using the Parental Stress Items Scale (PSIS; Pearlin & Schooler, 1978); their mental health using the anxiety and depression scales from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS; Pilkonis et al., 2011); and their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors using the Behavior and Feelings Survey (BFS; Weisz et al., 2019). In Spring 2020, parents completed two single-item questions: a) How stressful has it been for your child to adjust to changes associated with the COVID-19 outbreak? and b) How stressful has it been for your family to adjust to changes associated with the COVID-19 outbreak?

Results:
Bivariate correlations (Table 1) indicated that all variables were significantly correlated (r’s ranged from .17 to .54) in the predicted direction. Multiple regression analyses tested the associations predicted by our hypotheses (Table 2). Child stress in adjusting during COVID-19 was significantly predicted by parental stress and child internalizing behaviors one year earlier. Family stress in adjusting during COVID-19 was significantly predicted by parental stress and marginally predicted by child externalizing behaviors one year earlier. Parent mental health was not significantly associated with child or family stress in adjusting during COVID-19. Additional analyses will investigate possible mediators and moderators of these associations.

Discussion and Implication:
These preliminary findings suggest that military families with previously high parental stress and children who exhibit internalizing and externalizing behaviors are at particular risk for stress in adjusting to changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Practitioners supporting military families should be especially attuned to stress associated with adapting to COVID-19 for these children and families. Future research is needed to understand the long-term adaptation of these families.

Authors

• Alison L. Drew, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Jake Steggerda, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tim A. Cavell, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amy Michelle Smith Slep, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carla Herrera, Herrera Consulting Group, LLC
  Non-Presenting Author

• Juliann Nicholson, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Renee A Spencer, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author