Examining Children’s Mental Health and Parenting Quality before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: The goal of the current study was to characterize the impact of COVID-19 mitigation efforts (i.e., stay-at-home orders) on children’s mental health and parenting quality, as well as to assess predictors of children’s mental health during the pandemic. Methods: Seventy-nine children (18 with autism, 61 without) and their parents who participated in a previous study and were at least 10 years old (M = 13.8, SD = 1.7) were invited to participate in three online follow-up surveys post initiation of the stay-at-home-order (during May through November 2020). Children were predominantly White (49.4%) and not Hispanic or Latino (78.5%). Parents reported on children’s anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as their own parenting practices. Family togetherness, conflict, financial problems, and parental mental health during the pandemic were also collected. Results: Children without autism experienced a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms across the beginning of the pandemic and a significant increase in depressive symptoms from pre- to post-stay-at-home-order. Children with autism experienced a significant decrease in depressive symptoms from pre- to post- stay-at-home-order. Parents of children without autism reported a significant decrease in positive parenting from pre- to post stay-at-home-order. Higher levels of permissive parenting and financial problems were associated with children’s depressive symptoms. Higher levels of parent mental health difficulties and permissive parenting were associated with higher levels of children’s anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Children are experiencing both improvements and declines in mental health relative to pre-pandemic. Parenting quality and parental mental health have direct impacts on children’s functioning during the pandemic.

Neural sensitivity to social reward predicts links between social behavior and loneliness in youth during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Furthermore, there are increased risks for anxiety, depression, loneliness, and negative health outcomes if social needs are not met (Matthews et al., 2016; Roach, 2018). Some of these negative risk factors may have been exacerbated by the spread of COVID‐19 and the resulting social isolation (Barendse et al., 2022; Orben et al., 2020; Yarger et al., in press). Examining associations between neural reward functioning in youth and their social behavior during the initial months of the pandemic can help determine best practices for supporting youth in critical developmental periods.…”

“…In early 2020, regulations put in place to combat the COVID‐19 pandemic led to months of social distancing for youth, leading to a socially impoverished environment and adding further risk to an already risky time in life for poor mental health outcomes (Barendse et al., 2022; Loades et al., 2020; Qualter et al., 2010; Yarger et al., in press). As such, this window provided a unique opportunity to examine how variation in peer experiences may be related to social outcomes and whether individual differences in social reward sensitivity serves as an individual difference marker of differential susceptibility.…”

Neural sensitivity to social reward predicts social behavior and satisfaction in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In early 2020, regulations put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic led to months of social distancing for youth, leading to a socially impoverished environment and adding further risk to an already risky time in life for poor mental health outcomes [16][17][18][19] . As such, this window provided a unique opportunity to examine how variation in peer experiences may be related to social outcomes and whether individual differences in social reward sensitivity serves as an individual difference marker of differential susceptibility.…”