Family communication and child outcome during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a worldwide crisis in which most families sheltered in place for long periods of time. We know that children, preschool through adolescence, generally suffered negative consequences of the shutdown, but we know less about the ways in which families communicated with each other during the pandemic or how this might be related to child outcome. The studies presented in this special issue examine this question from multiple theoretical perspectives and employing multiple methodologies. Both what was talked about and how it was talked about were studied. Individual difference factors, including family structure and resources, parental stress and depression, and child age, were considered. Across studies, findings converge on the role that open and elaborative parent-child communication plays in positive child and adolescent mental health outcome. Implications and lessons learned are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).