Empirical support for a model of risk and resilience in children and families during COVID-19: A systematic review & narrative synthesis

Abstract

Background. The COVID-19 Family Disruption Model (FDM) describes the cascading effects of pandemic-related social disruptions on child and family psychosocial functioning. The current systematic review assesses the empirical support for the model. Methods. Study eligibility: 1) children between 2–18 years (and/or their caregivers); 2) a quantitative longitudinal design; 3) published findings during the first 2.5 years of COVID-19; 4) an assessment of caregiver and/or family functioning; 5) an assessment of child internalizing, externalizing, or positive adjustment; and 6) an examination of a COVID-19 FDM pathway. Following a search of PsycINFO and MEDLINE in August 2022, screening, full-text assessments, and data extraction were completed by two reviewers. Study quality was examined using an adapted NIH risk-of- bias tool. Results. Findings from 47 studies were summarized using descriptive statistics, tables, and a narrative synthesis. There is emerging support for bidirectional pathways linking caregiver-child functioning and family-child functioning, particularly for child internalizing problems. Quality assessments indicated issues with attrition and power justification. Discussion. We provide a critical summary of the empirical support for the model, highlighting themes related to family systems theory and risk/resilience. We outline future directions for research on child and family well-being during COVID-19. Systematic review registration. PROSPERO [CRD42022327191].

Pre-COVID respiratory sinus arrhythmia moderates associations between COVID-19 stress and child externalizing behaviors: Testing neurobiological stress theories

“…Consistent with the COVID-19 family disruption model (Prime et al, 2020), stress exposure both prior to and during the pandemic correspond to the degree of children's symptom severity (Shoychet et al, 2023). For example, in another sample of young children, those with previous exposure to trauma and current exposure to stressors had elevated externalizing behaviors relative to those previously exposed to trauma without current life stress (Grasso et al, 2013).…”

Emergence and evolution of developmental resilience science over half a century

“…Prime and colleagues (2020), for example, proposed a multisystem Family Disruption Model on the effects of risk and protective processes during the pandemic. In short order, Shoychet and colleagues conducted a systematic review of publications testing the model (Shoychet et al, 2023). Masten and Motti-Stefanidi (2020) proposed in a paper on resilience during the pandemic that the "short list" of resilience factors identified earlier in DRS through an individual resilience lens, were observable at other system levels, in the literature on resilience in family, school, and community systems.…”

The promotive and protective effects of parents’ perceived changes during the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional well-being among U.S. households with young children: an investigation of family resilience processes

“…According to the FDM ( Prime et al, 2020 ), intact or strengthened supportive factors in individual traits and/or family processes could have played a central role in either directly promoting better well-being outcomes of parents and young children (i.e., promotive effects) or buffering against pandemic negative effects (i.e., protective effects; Masten and Motti-Stefanidi, 2009 ). This model has received extensive empirical support in the first 2.5 years of the pandemic, with strong evidence on the effects of parent and family functioning on child adjustment (see Shoychet et al, 2023 for a systemic review). Aligned with the FDM, this study focused on investigating how parents’ perceived changes in the pandemic, which were derived from the post-traumatic growth (PTG) model and reflected positive parent functioning, could facilitate the processes of family resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”