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.
Highlights
Since March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is referred to as a pandemic by the World Health Organization [1]
Results showed that Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) was related to more negative affect in both parents and adolescents, independent of the period of assessment
In adolescents, IU was linked to a decrease in positive affect, while for parents no link between IU and positive affect was found
Summary
Since March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is referred to as a pandemic by the World Health Organization [1]. In the Netherlands, at March 15th 2020, measures of social distancing enforced all Dutch citizens to stay home and work remotely as much as possible, public spaces (e.g. schools, offices, parts of public transport, theatres) were closed and public gatherings were prohibited (see Fig 1 for a timeline). These measures of social distancing (a so-called ‘lockdown’) created drastic changes in daily social life; distinct domains such as family life, school, and work suddenly coincided and families faced an unforeseen increase in hours spent together under the same roof. This study aimed to investigate well-being of adolescents and their parents and parenting behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and explored daily difficulties and helpful activities during the COVID-19 pandemic linked to their well-being
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