Does the COVID-19 pandemic impact parents’ and adolescents’ well-being? An EMA-study on daily affect and parenting

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Netherlands (March 2020) and the associated social distancing measures, families were enforced to stay at home as much as possible. Adolescents and their families may be particularly affected by this enforced proximity, as adolescents strive to become more independent. Yet, whether these measures impact emotional well-being in families with adolescents has not been examined. In this ecological momentary assessment study, we investigated if the COVID-19 pandemic affected positive and negative affect of parents and adolescents and parenting behaviors (warmth and criticism). Additionally, we examined possible explanations for the hypothesized changes in affect and parenting. To do so, we compared daily reports on affect and parenting that were gathered during two periods of 14 consecutive days, once before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018-2019) and once during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multilevel analyses showed that only parents' negative affect increased as compared to the period before the pandemic, whereas this was not the case for adolescents' negative affect, positive affect and parenting behaviors (from both the adolescent and parent perspective). In general, intolerance of uncertainty was linked to adolescents' and parents' negative affect and adolescents' positive affect. However, Intolerance of uncertainty, nor any pandemic related characteristics (i.e. living surface, income, relatives with COVID-19, hours of working at home, helping children with school and contact with COVID-19 patients at work) were linked to the increase of parents' negative affect during COVID-19. It can be concluded that on average, our sample (consisting of relatively healthy parents and adolescents) seems to deal fairly well with the circumstances. The substantial heterogeneity in the data however, also suggest that whether or not parents and adolescents experience (emotional) problems can vary from household to household. Implications for researchers, mental health care professionals and policy makers are discussed.

Daily Life Changes and Life Satisfaction among Korean School-Aged Children in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This result is consistent with previous research emphasizing the close relationship between the positive perceived parenting style and a higher level of happiness [ 75 ]. During the changes in children’s daily routines due to the pandemic situation, perceived parenting style did not change before and during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 76 ]. This can also work as a protective factor for children’s positive subjective well-being.…”

Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on children with and without risk for neurodevelopmental impairments

“…28 In contrast, one longitudinal study investigating affect prior to and during the pandemic among parents and their children found an increase in negative affect in parents but not in children. 29 Child well-being and adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic has been suggested to be closely associated with family well-being and functioning. 3 The current study reports a decrease in family functioning during compared with before the pandemic: family expressiveness and cohesion decreased while family conflict remained stable.…”

COVID-19 and Quality of Life: Twelve Reflections

“…Similarly, Gromada et al ( 2020 ) pointed out that COVID-19 created additional childcare tasks for families and suggested that additional measures such as paid leave and high-quality non-family childcare services should be introduced. Janssen et al ( 2020 ) found that while most parents were able to cope well with family demands, there was an increase in the negative effect of parents with variation in the related impacts in different families.…”