A Chain Reaction of Hardship: Paying for Basic Needs is Impacting Child Wellbeing During the Pandemic via a Mediational Pathway through Caregiver Distress

• In Event: Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Parenting Young Children: Research Collaborations and International Perspectives

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold across the U.S., households with young children are experiencing very challenging circumstances. RAPID-EC (Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development-Early Childhood) is an ongoing survey of families with children age 5 and under. The primary goal is to provide actionable data to key stakeholders (policy makers, practitioners, child advocates, researchers) to (a) inform immediate and long-term policy decisions and (b) facilitate design of support programs for families. RAPID-EC includes questions about family supports and utilization of resources, caregiver mental health and well-being, and child development including parents’ concerns about their child(ren)’s development.
RAPID-EC launched April 6, 2020 and fielded a weekly nationally representative survey (in terms of race/ethnicity, geography, and income) of over 1000 households through early August. From August through December 2020, we continue to field every other week. We analyze data and post findings to disseminate to key policy leaders, advocacy groups, organizations supporting caregivers and families, and the general public. Our partners are also using RAPID-EC data in additional analyses and in policy briefs regarding children and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this presentation, we present results designed to determine the validity of a conceptual model examining the longitudinal pathways that predict increased levels of child emotional distress during the pandemic (see Figure 1). Our analyses revealed that caregiver reports of material hardship (i.e., difficulty paying for basic needs including food, housing, and utilities) measured at any given time during the survey is longitudinally associated with increases in child distress over time (a composite of internalizing and externalizing), and that this pathway is mediated through impacts on caregiver emotional difficulties (a composite of stress, depression, anxiety, and loneliness). We also find that caregiver reports of emotional support help to buffer against the effects of material hardship on both parents and children.
These results have implications for understanding the needs of households with young children during the pandemic. In particular, they suggest that if policymakers and practitioners wish to reduce the burden of the pandemic on children’s wellbeing, efforts must be undertaken to both reduce material hardship and increase supports to adults and children. This research is important because there is extensive evidence that prolonged distress in children, especially in the context of family relationships that are impacted by the stresses of material hardship in ways that inhibit the ability of adults to provide nurturing care to children, has the potential to affect brain, biological, behavioral, and social emotional development across the lifespan.

Authors

• Philip Andrew Fisher, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Sara Weston, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author