Risks and opportunities for children's well-being in resource-constrained multigenerational households during COVID-19: Implications for school psychology interventions

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had a global impact on family social and economic well-being. Individuals and families sought alternative living arrangements as a result of the financial crisis, health implications, and housing insecurity, with many joining multigenerational households. However, it is unknown how multigenerational family life affects children's well-being. Therefore, this qualitative study explored risks and resilience-building opportunities for children's psychological and social well-being in resource-constrained multigenerational households during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. Five multigenerational families were selected through snowball sampling and case design. The three generations of participants were grandparents ( n = 5), parents ( n = 7), and children ( n = 4). Data were gathered through a questionnaire and interviews. The study received institutional ethics approval. After thematic analysis, two themes and six sub-themes were identified. Risks were related to interpersonal conflict, family collective fear of COVID-19, and children's multiple other fears. Opportunities were identified as academic support, shared responsibilities, life skills and values acquisition, and family cohesion. Results demonstrated the potential risks and resilience-building opportunities multigenerational households present for children's psychosocial well-being. Multisystemic influences in a multigenerational household contribute to children's adjustment. These outcomes necessitate systemic school psychology interventions. Longitudinal studies are recommended to explore child well-being trends in multigenerational households in varying socioeconomic contexts.

Resilience to COVID-19 challenges: Lessons for school psychologists serving school-attending youth with experiences of marginalization

“…While the papers in this special issue showed that parents, other caregivers (e.g., grandparents-see Mohangi, 2022), and teachers are important co-champions of student resilience, they also flagged the importance of SPs nurturing the resilience of these co-champions. Luthar et al (2020) 2022) paper showed that purposeful capacitation of teachers and school staff yields dividends for student wellbeing.…”

“…For instance, Mohangi's (2022) study, which included five African family units, underscored the importance of extended family members (like grandparents) to how students' households coped with family violence and acute financial stress. In addition, some participants in Mohangi's (2022) study referred to their grandparents teaching them to pray. Participants in Pillay's (2022) study also reported that spiritual resources were important resilience enablers.…”

“…The papers in this special issue provide some pointers to how the adults associated with a school community could form a caring whole and support the resilience of students challenged by various forms of marginalization. While the geographical contexts reported in the papers on this resilience-themed issue vary (e.g., students from rural/urban USA [Chatlos et al, 2022; Goodwin et al, 2022]; remote Australia [McCalman et al, 2022], and South Africa [Mohangi, 2022; Pillay, 2022; Theron et al, 2022]), as do the marginalization experiences (e.g., disability or special education needs ([Chatlos et al, 2022; Goodwin et al, 2022], rurality/remote location [Chatlos et al, 2022; McCalman et al, 2022], visible minority [Goodwin et al, 2022], and/or structural disadvantage [Mohangi, 2022; Pillay, 2022; Theron et al, 2022]), the capacity of caregivers and school staff to support student resilience during the pandemic was invariant. For instance, Goodwin et al (2022) reported mental health benefits for American elementary school students and their caregivers when elementary school teachers and caregivers shared a sense of supportive connectedness.…”

“…This is particularly important in contexts, like rural Australia, where SPs are rare. Following Luthar et al (2020), the other special issue papers (Chatlos et al, 2022; Goodwin et al, 2022; Mohangi, 2022; Pillay, 2022; Theron et al, 2022) cautioned against taking school staff and parent/caregiver capacity to champion resilience in challenged times (like pandemics) for granted.…”

“…As noted earlier, this is especially true when SPs work with students who are under-represented in the resilience and developmental literature (Blum & Boyden, 2018). In this regard, the papers by Goodwin et al (2022), McCalman et al (2022), Mohangi (2022), and Pillay (2022) directed attention to how cultural context shapes which resources are valued by students and how cultural responsiveness plays into resilience. For instance, Mohangi's (2022) study, which included five African family units, underscored the importance of extended family members (like grandparents) to how students’ households coped with family violence and acute financial stress.…”