Stress, anxiety, emotion regulation and social support in parent‐child dyads prior to and during the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

In March 2020, and in order to assess the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on stress and mental health in parent‐child dyads using pre‐pandemic measures, we recontacted participants from a 2019 study. A total of 136 dyads of Canadian parents (77% mothers, mean age = 44.48 y/o) and children (63% girls, 77% aged 10‐12 y/o and 23% aged 15‐17 y/o) completed self‐report measures of perceived stress, anxiety (state/sensitivity) and emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal/expressive suppression). Children additionally completed measures of co‐rumination and perceived social support from friends, parents, and teachers. Results revealed a significant increase in parents’ stress and state anxiety during the pandemic compared to before, but not in their children. Dyads' anxiety sensitivity remained unchanged, as well as parents’ use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Children showed similar use of cognitive reappraisal, but less expressive suppression and co‐rumination during the pandemic compared to before. Children reported similar perceived social support from all sources over time. Finally, parental and children scores were not significantly correlated at either time. These results suggest that during the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic, parents and children responded differently in terms of stress, anxiety, and emotion regulation strategies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Regulación emocional para padres de adolescentes: un curso de modalidad a distancia, más allá de los tiempos de crisis

“…La COVID-19 ha traído consecuencias causando que padres de familia busquen apoyo para regular sus emociones, tanto para ellos mismos como para sus hijos. En este contexto es que los participantes de esta investigación solicitaron apoyo en calidad de urgencia, y por ello, se decide intervenir mediante educación a distancia debido a las circunstancias dadas en la pandemia como son la incertidumbre de la estabilidad laboral, la posible enfermedad, así como las responsabilidades del cuidado de los hijos y la casa, combinadas con teletrabajo, los llevaron a vivir un estrés difícil de manejar (Journault et al 2022;Rodas-Santos, et.al., 2020;Avello, 2020). Por ello, la pregunta de investigación que guía este trabajo fue: ¿cómo promover la RE.…”

“…Ante el confinamiento los gobiernos tuvieron que aplicar medidas que facilitaran la educación a distancia (García Aretio 2020; Avello, 2020), si bien, con muchas problemáticas, también se observó beneficio a la comunidad educativa, ya que permitió una mejor organización de la información, uso de nuevos conceptos, distintas formas de intercambiar la información y el reenfoque de la importancia del trabajo con los padres de familia (Aguilar-Gordón, 2020;Journault et al 2022).…”

The Influence of Emotional Regulation and Cognitive Flexibility on Sleep Habits in Spanish Children and Adolescents through the Lens of Parents

“…In fact, studies show an overestimation of the parents when rating children’s behaviors, resulting in assessment biases [ 44 ]. However, researchers have suggested that parent proxy forms are an excellent candidate for accurately detecting cognitive and emotional aspects in youngsters [ 45 ].…”