CHANGES IN INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE IMPACT ON WELL-BEING

Abstract

Abstract A burgeoning body of research has revealed the COVID-19 pandemic’s dramatic impact on the lives of family members in the U.S., including increasing caregiving burden and reducing in-person contact. However, the preponderance of this work has focused on how COVID-19 has reshaped a single role, rather than the set of role relationships individuals hold. In the present paper, we used mixed-methods data collected from 543 adults in later midlife (mean age=60) collected as part of the Within-Family Differences Study-III to explore the impact of the pandemic on intergenerational and intragenerational family relationships. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, we classified which relationships were affected (e.g., parents, adult children, grandchildren, siblings, etc.), identified social structural characteristics that predicted pandemic related relational changes (e.g., gender, race, age, SES), provided a detailed picture of how family members experienced these changes, and studied the impact of these changes on respondents’ depressive symptoms. Findings suggested that respondents were most likely to report changes in their relationships with their parents and adult children, with reduced in-person contact and direct care to parents, and increased coresidence with adult children. White women were most likely to report changes in in-person contact and care to parents, and they were also more likely to develop higher depressive symptoms due to these changes. Black respondents reported fewer changes in contact with parents or children due to greater coresidence compared to White respondents, and no association was found between changes and depressive symptoms in this group.