Child Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior and Parental Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In this study we surveyed families’ experiences with parental depression, stress, relationship conflict, and child behavioral issues during six months of the COVID-19 pandemic through the COVID-19: Global Social Trust and Mental Health Study. The current analyses used data collected from online surveys completed by adults in 66 countries from April 17, 2020-July 14, 2020 (Wave I), followed by surveys six months later at Wave II (October 17, 2020-January 31, 2021). Analyses were limited to 175 adult parents who reported living with at least one child under 18 years old at Wave I. Parents reported on children’s level of externalizing and internalizing behavior at Wave I. At Wave II, parents completed self-reported measures of stress, depression, and inter-partner conflict. Child externalizing behavior at Wave I significantly predicted higher levels of parental stress and marginally predicted parental depression at Wave II, controlling for covariates. Child internalizing behavior at Wave I did not predict parental stress or depression, controlling for covariates. Neither child externalizing nor internalizing behavior predicted parental relationship conflict. The overall findings demonstrate that child behavior likely influenced parental stress and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings suggest that mental health interventions for children and parents may improve the family system during times of disaster.

Reflections, Resilience, and Recovery: A qualitative study of COVID-19's impact on an international adult population’s mental health and priorities for support

“…Restrictions also preceded the increased use of mental health services -for those who were able to access free counselling or those who had the financial capital to afford private servicesyet highlighting those who were not able to have continued access or afford mental health and healthcare support during the pandemic. These findings were consistent with past studies uncovering difficulties in mental health access (Gillard et al, 2021) from those with existing mental health conditions (Fond et al, 2021) and families with young children and children with special education needs (Portnoy et al, 2021;Ravens-Sieberer et al, 2021;Waite et al, 2021).…”

“…In particular, research on the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health since the start of the pandemic has seen exponential growth. Numerous quantitative studies from different countries have reported on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the general population's mental health (Rossi et al, 2020;Sauders et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2020) but many more studies have focused on specific populations including: healthcare professionals and providers (see review Braquehais et al, 2020;Gupta & Sahoo, 2020), educational professionals (see review Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al, 2021), patients with existing mental health conditions (Fond et al, 2021), young children and adolescents (Portnoy, Bedoya, & Wong, 2021;Ravens-Sieberer et al, 2021;Waite et al, 2021), and young adults and undergraduates (Son et al, 2020; to name a few. While most studies are cross-sectional or focused on the first 12 to 18 months of the pandemic (Wong et al, 2021), a handful of studies have also continued beyond that to report on the longer-term health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health (Varga et al, 2021).…”

Reflections, Resilience, and Recovery: A qualitative study of the COVID-19 impact on an international general population’s mental health and priorities for support

“…Restrictions also preceded the increased use of mental health services -for those who were able to access free counselling or those who had the financial capital to afford private servicesyet highlighting those who were not able to have continued access or afford mental health and healthcare support during the pandemic. These findings were consistent with past studies uncovering difficulties in mental health access (Gillard et al, 2021) from those with existing mental health conditions (Fond et al, 2021) and families with young children and children with special education needs (Portnoy et al, 2021;Ravens-Sieberer et al, 2021;Waite et al, 2021).…”

“…In particular, research on the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health since the start of the pandemic has seen exponential growth. Numerous quantitative studies from different countries have reported on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the general population's mental health (Rossi et al, 2020;Sauders et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2020) but many more studies have focused on specific populations including: healthcare professionals and providers (see review Braquehais et al, 2020;Gupta & Sahoo, 2020), educational professionals (see review Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al, 2021), patients with existing mental health conditions (Fond et al, 2021), young children and adolescents (Portnoy, Bedoya, & Wong, 2021;Ravens-Sieberer et al, 2021;Waite et al, 2021), and young adults and undergraduates (Son et al, 2020; to name a few. While most studies are cross-sectional or focused on the first 12 to 18 months of the pandemic (Wong et al, 2021), a handful of studies have also continued beyond that to report on the longer-term health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health (Varga et al, 2021).…”

Reflections, Resilience, and Recovery: A qualitative study of the COVID-19 impact on an international general population’s mental health and priorities for support

“…These findings were consistent with past studies uncovering difficulties in mental health access (Gillard et al, 2021) from those with existing mental health conditions (Fond et al, 2021) and families with young children and children with special education needs (Portnoy et al, 2021;Ravens-Sieberer et al, 2021;Waite et al, 2021).…”