Associations between local COVID-19 case rates, pandemic-related financial stress and parent and child functioning

The COVID-19 global crisis led to unprecedented disruption of family routines and heightened family stress. This study examines the effects of local COVID-19 case rates and pandemic-related financial stress on family processes (e.g., caregiving behavior) and school-aged children's outcomes. The project was launched shortly after stay-at-home orders began in the U.S. Data were collected online using Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk), which allowed for nationwide recruitment. Using four waves of data (N = 308), with initial data collected between 4/20/20 and 5/6/20 and 2-3 weeks between each wave, this study examined the influence of local rates of COVID-19 infection on pandemic-related financial stress and the association of these constructs on maternal psychological distress and negative parenting. We also examined the potential cascade linking COVID-19 case rates and pandemic-related financial stress with child behavior problems via maternal psychological distress and negative parenting behavior, while controlling for prior child behavior problems. In line with hypotheses, higher Wave 1 (W1) pandemic-related financial stress was significantly associated with higher Wave 2 (W2) maternal psychological distress, which was significantly associated with higher Wave 3 (W3) negative parenting, which, in turn, was significantly associated with higher Wave 4 (W4) child behavior problems. In addition, the indirect effect of W1 pandemic-related financial stress on W3 negative parenting through W2 maternal psychological distress was significant. Higher W1 local COVID-19 case rates were significantly related to higher W3 negative parenting. Results suggest local COVID-19 case rates and pandemic-related financial stressors are associated with poorer child and family functioning. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).