Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis is strongly affecting the psychological well-being of the general population. According to a very recent literature, the imposed lockdown and social distancing measures have generated a series of negative outcomes, including fear of the future, anxiety, and somatization symptoms. Few studies have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of parents and children, and still fewer studies have assessed the relationship between the psychological health of parents and children. The present study aimed at understanding the effect of parents’ psychological distress and verbal aggression on behavioral and emotional symptoms of children during the COVID-19 lockdown. Using an online survey administered in the first weeks of the lockdown in Italy, we explored the mediating effects of parent verbal hostility and child emotional symptoms on the relationship between parent distress and child hyperactivity/inattention in a sample of 878 Italian parents (87.4% mothers; meanage = 40.58). Two hypotheses were proposed: (1) parent distress would significantly predict child hyperactivity/inattention, and (2) parent verbal hostility and child emotional symptoms would mediate the association between parent distress and child hyperactivity/inattention. The serial mediated model confirmed both hypotheses, suggesting that higher rates of psychological distress in parents were associated with higher levels of hyperactivity/inattention in children. Parent verbal hostility and child emotional problems were also found to positively mediate this relation. Our results may be used to improve sociopsychological interventions in the general population in the near future. They may also contribute to the clinical definition of therapeutic paths for parents and families.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis is strongly affecting the psychological well-being of the general population
Drawing on the process-oriented model of developmental trajectories and child adjustment (Cummings et al, 2000; Miragoli and Verrocchio, 2008), which suggests that different factors and environments may encourage development along an adaptive or potentially maladaptive trajectory, we proposed two hypotheses: (1) parent psychological distress would significantly predict child hyperactivity/ inattention behavior and (2) parent verbal hostility and child emotional symptoms would mediate the association between parent psychological distress and child hyperactivity/ inattention behavior
The present study examined the links between parent psychological distress, parent verbal hostility, and child emotional symptoms and hyperactivity-inattention during the COVID-19 lockdown, with an emphasis on the identification of potential mediating processes among these variables
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis is strongly affecting the psychological well-being of the general population. While many studies have assessed the impact of the pandemic on the general population (Mazza et al, 2020), few studies have assessed the effects of the lockdown on the parent-child relationship or parent and child well-being (Brown et al, 2020; Gassman-Pines et al, 2020; Griffith, 2020; Marchetti et al, 2020; Patrick et al, 2020). In addition to generating negative effects in the general population, the COVID-19 lockdown may be creating a stressful environment for parents, who may face concerns over their family’s health, their children’s isolation from teachers and peers, and their management of homeschooling and daily commitments (e.g., working remotely and meeting financial obligations; Fontanesi et al, 2020; Romero et al, 2020). Very few children have been infected with COVID-19 in Italy, children are not immune to the tragic impact of the pandemic, but may experience fear, isolation, uncertainty, worry, irritability, and inattention (Jiao et al, 2020)
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