Home quarantine may lead to families developing a variety of psychological distress. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological status of children and their parent during 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in China. Data were collected from children ( n = 1360) and their parent ( n = 1360) in China using online survey during February 2020. Demographic information, media exposure, and psychological status including anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed using self-report measures. The results indicated that, for children, 1.84% experienced moderate anxiety, 2.22% experienced depression and 3.16% met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD; for parent, 1.18%, 0.01% and 3.60% experienced moderate anxiety, severe depression, and moderate depression, respectively, and 3.53% met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Moreover, excessive media exposure ( β = −0.08 ~ 0.13, p s < 0.05) was a risk factor for anxiety and PTSD for children, a positive factor against anxiety and depression for parent. Being a mother ( β = 0.07 ~ 0.21, p s < 0.01), being younger ( β = −0.09 ~ −0.07, p s < 0.05), lower levels of educational attainment ( β = −0.17 ~ −0.08, p s < 0.01) and family monthly income ( β = −0.17 ~ −0.11, p s < 0.05) were risk factors for anxiety, depression and PTSD for parent. Findings suggested that children and their parent in non-severe area didn’t suffer major psychological distress during the outbreak. Factors associated with lower levels of mental health problems were identified to inform the use of psychological interventions to improve the mental health of vulnerable groups during the pandemic.

Objective: Previous studies have shown that parental attachment was associated with higher levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in individuals who have experienced traumatic events. The aim of the current longitudinal study is to investigate resilience as one pathway through which parental attachment is related to PTG among Chinese adolescents following the Yancheng tornado. Methods: A total of 351 adolescent survivors participated in this longitudinal study. Participants completed the revised version of Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA-R) at 12 months (T1), and the revised Chinese version of the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-R) and the Connor and Davidson’s Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) at 18 months (T2) after the tornado, respectively. Results: It indicated that parental attachment at T1 has direct and positive effect on PTG at T2, and resilience at T2 fully mediated the relationship between parental attachment at T1 and PTG at T2. Conclusion: The findings revealed that parental attachment and resilience are two key resources that promote adolescent’s PTG, and parental attachment acts through resilience to promote PTG in adolescents.