In Their Own Words: Children's Perceptions of Caregiver Stress during COVID‐19

Abstract

Research ObjectiveTo use text and chat transcripts from a national child helpline to examine how children perceive, identify, and describe caregiver stress during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic.Study DesignWe obtained 105 deidentified text and chat transcripts from March through June of 2020 from the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, which supports the needs of abused, neglected, and at‐risk children. The helpline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with professional crisis counselors who serve families from all over the United States. Transcripts were analyzed with Atlas TI software using inductive, thematic analysis to identify how child helpline users: 1) perceived drivers of caregiver stress and 2) used words to describe manifestations of caregiver stress.Population StudiedText and chat transcripts were included if they originated from children under age 18 and one of the presenting issues included “COVID‐19,” labeled by a Childhelp counselor. The majority (86%) were from children ages 13 to 17.Principal FindingsChildren perceived multiple drivers of caregiver stress during COVID‐19, including intrapersonal (e.g. caregiver health concerns), interpersonal (parental discord, perceived dislike of child), and extrapersonal (financial insecurity, sheltering in place) stressors. Regardless of the driver, caregivers' stress was internalized by children (Table 1). Children were most likely to use the words “anger,” “control,” and “blame” to label manifestations of caregiver stress, and often cited examples of externalizing behaviors, including yelling, name calling, and blaming of others (Table 2).TABLE 1Examples of perceived drivers of caregiver stressDriverRepresentative QuoteFinancial insecurity“They say…I'm the [reason] they don't have enough money every week”COVID‐19 sheltering in place“…ever since quarantine…there have been more occurrences of him shouting and yelling at us at small things.”TABLE 2Examples of words children use to describe manifestations of caregiver stressDescriptorRepresentative Quote“Blowing up”“She sort of blew up screaming, slamming things, breaking things…”“Blaming me for everything”“She tells me that I am the reason she has lost friends, or that…her and my step dad got a divorce”ConclusionsIn text and chat inquiries to a national child helpline during the COVID‐19 pandemic, children identified, described, and internalized multiple drivers of caregiver stress, often feeling as though they were to blame. Providers serving children should address household stress spillover effects by directly acknowledging children's perceptions and concerns using their own words.Implications for Policy or PracticeChild helplines can help make child distress more “visible” during a time when mandatory reporters such as educational personnel and daycare providers have limited contact with at‐risk children. Texts and chats, which are accessible to school‐age children and offer privacy from nearby caregivers, are an important mechanism by which children in crisis can sound their own alarms. We illustrate the real‐time impacts of caregiver stress on children during the COVID‐19 pandemic, in which close proximity and heightened duress likely increase children's sensitivity and vulnerability to caregivers' variations in mood and behavior. Findings can inform policy efforts to expand access to supportive services and highlight the promise of text and chat modalities to address children's needs.