Assessing positive adaptation during a global crisis: The development and validation of the family positive adaptation during COVID-19 scale

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the psychosocial functioning of children and families. It is important to consider adversity in relation to processes of positive adaptation. To date, there are no empirically validated multi-item scales measuring COVID-related positive adaptation within families. The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a new measure: the Family Positive Adaptation during COVID-19 Scale (Family PACS). The sample included 372 female and 158 male caregivers (73% White-European/North American; median 2019 income = $50,000 to $74,999 USD) of children ages 5–18 years old from the United Kingdom (76%), the United States (19%), Canada (4%), and Australia (1%), who completed measures in May 2020. Participants responded to a 14-item survey indexing a range of perceived coping and adaptation behaviors at the beginning of the pandemic. An exploratory factor analysis yielded an optimal one-factor solution comprised of seven items related to family cohesion, flexibility, routines, and meaning-making (loadings from 0.44 to 0.67). Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated measurement invariance across female and male caregivers, demonstrating that the factor structure, loadings, and thresholds did not vary by caregiver sex. There was evidence for concurrent validity with significant bivariate correlations between the Family PACS scores and measures of caregiver positive coping, parenting practices, couple satisfaction, and family functioning (correlations from 0.10 to 0.23), but not negatively-valenced constructs. Findings inform our conceptualization of how families have adapted to adverse pandemic-related conditions. Further, we provide preliminary support for the Family PACS as a practical tool for evaluating positive family adaptation during this global crisis, with implications for future widespread crises.

Building family resilience in the wake of a global pandemic: Looking back to prepare for the future.

“…Just because the acute phase of the pandemic has subsided does not mean that the impact on parents and children, and their interrelations, has dissipated. As outlined in the COVID-19 family disruption model (Prime et al, 2020), social disruptions due to the pandemic send reverberations through the family and often have cascading effects over time (Or et al, 2023; Shoychet et al, in press). The psychological, relational, social, and economic ramifications of the pandemic are likely to persist, with consequences for entire families.…”

“…Despite its central role in building capacity within families following hardship, the coparental unit is often overlooked in developmental psychopathology and clinical science. For instance, in a systemic review, Shoychet et al (in press) screened for longitudinal studies during the pandemic that included a measure of caregiver and/or family functioning and child adjustment. Of the 47 studies included in the review, 28 studies examined child adjustment in relation to caregiver functioning (e.g., parental distress), and 42 studies examined child adjustment in relation to family functioning (e.g., parent–child relationship quality).…”

Resilience in development: Pathways to multisystem integration

“…Many of the authors here endorse a systems-oriented definition of resilience, congruent with the trend observed by Masten et al (2021) in their review of the broader literature. Concomitantly, models presented in this issue reflect efforts to integrate biological, psychological, social, and ecological influences on the development of individuals, families, and communities, in order to understand or facilitate their responses to adversity (e.g., Burrows et al, this issue; Shoychet et al, this issue; Ungar et al, this issue). Panter-Brick (this issue) describes these changes through the lens of humanitarian interventions.…”

“…These articles also document studies engaging researchers and participants in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in the Global South. Studies stemming from the pandemic are emerging; this issue includes a systematic review of the evidence pertinent to Prime’s Family Disruption Model (Prime et al, 2020) of risk and resilience during the pandemic (Shoychet et al, this issue). Articles in this issue also reflect the increasing value placed on lived experience, voices of participants, and community-based participatory research.…”

“…Shoychet et al (this issue) carried out a systematic review of publications that test Prime’s COVID-19 Family Disruption Model (FDM) of risk and protective processes during the pandemic (see Prime et al, 2020, 2023). FDM represents a cascade model for understanding how adversity can disrupt family functioning with spillover consequences for child or youth well-being and development.…”