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Parental Mental Health and Hostility Are Associated With Longitudinal Increases in Child Internalizing and

Jennifer E Khoury1, Hargun Kaur2, Andrea Gonzalez2,3

  • 1Department of Psychology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Frontiers in Psychology
|August 16, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Children experienced more internalizing and externalizing problems during COVID-19. Parental hostility and maternal anxiety were linked to increased child behavior issues, highlighting the need for family mental health support.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Children faced increased risks for negative outcomes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Parental mental health and behaviors are potential moderators of child adjustment during crises.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess changes in child internalizing and externalizing problems from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic.
  • To examine associations between parent mental health (depression, anxiety, stress) and parenting behavior with changes in child mental health problems during COVID-19.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 68 mother-child dyads.
  • Children aged 7-9 years at follow-up.
  • Validated questionnaires measured parenting behavior, parental mental health, and child behavior problems.

Main Results:

  • Children showed significantly greater internalizing and externalizing problems during the pandemic compared to before.
  • Parental hostility uniquely predicted increased externalizing problems.
  • Maternal anxiety was associated with greater increases in internalizing problems, even after accounting for child gender and COVID-related stressors.

Conclusions:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted child mental health, increasing both internalizing and externalizing problems.
  • Parental factors, specifically hostility and anxiety, play a significant role in exacerbating these child mental health challenges.
  • Interventions supporting family mental health are crucial to mitigate the pandemic's adverse effects on children.

Keywords:
COVID-19externalizinginternalizingmaternal mental healthparenting

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