Testing the Family Stress Model of Economic Hardships in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: COVID-19 Based Discrimination and Economic Stress on Psychosocial and Health Risks in Children

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated shelter-in-place regulations have brought an immense amount of stress to people’s lives. In the U.S. alone, at least 70% of families have been adversely affected by business closures, lay-offs and reduced work. Many parents are balancing working from home and having their children at home full-time, and families have lost their predictable routines and typical social lives. These multiple challenges have been likely compromising parents’ relationships and childrearing, and parents’ and children’s well-being. We utilized the Family Stress Model (FSM; Conger & Conger, 2002) to study the effects of economic hardships and financial stresses on family processes and well-being during COVID-19, and predicted we would find support for multiple mediating processes that the FSM posits as links between economic hardships and child adjustment.

455 parents (407 women; 69.7% White; MAge=38.1 years, SD=6.30) in U.S. two-parent families with children aged 2-18 years (208 girls; MChild Age=7.03, SDChild Age=4.05) completed an online survey during May-June 2020, assessing economic hardships, financial stresses, marital quality, parent well-being, parenting, and child maladjustment. Economic hardship indicators included income-to-needs ratio, worsened financial situation since the pandemic began, and negative employment changes (e.g., job loss). Economic pressure was assessed by difficulties affording necessities (e.g., food, rent, bills). Marital problems included relationship dissatisfaction, increased conflict and low affection. Disrupted parenting encompassed low affection and responsiveness, disconnection, conflict and harsh discipline. Parents’ emotional distress was measured via the MHI-5, and children’s difficulties were assessed via the SDQ (hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, and conduct problems).

A SEM model of the FSM had excellent fit (Figure 1), and identified multiple significant indirect effects consistent with the mediating steps posited by the FSM (Table 1). For example, lower income-to-need ratio predicted more financial difficulties, which in turn predicted more problems in the marital relationships (full mediation). Marital problems fully mediated the link between financial difficulties and parents’ distress. Parents’ elevated psychological distress then predicted, both directly and indirectly through disrupted parenting, greater child emotional and behavioral difficulties. A second set of paths showed that parents who perceived their financial situation to be worse since the pandemic began were also likely to experience greater emotional distress, which subsequently led to more problems in their marital relationships. Increased marital problems then predicted disrupted parenting, which in turn led to increased child difficulties.


Overall our findings suggest that the FSM represents a good framework for explaining the effects of economic hardship and financial stresses on parents’ and children’s adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results emphasize the pivotal role that inter-parental (spousal) relationships play during these unprecedented times, and the reciprocal relations between marital problems and parent distress further amplify the harmful effects of financial stresses on family system processes that are fundamental for child adjustment. Intervention efforts for improving inter-parental relationships may be particularly beneficial for promoting both parent and child well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authors

• Meital Mashash, University of California - San Francisco
  Presenting Author

• Lindsey Partington, University of California - Davis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Paul David Hastings, University of California - Davis
  Non-Presenting Author