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Child behavior problems during COVID-19: Associations with parent distress and child social-emotional skills.

Jing SunBritt SingletaryHui JiangLaura M JusticeTzu-Jung LinKelly M Purtell
Published in: Journal of applied developmental psychology (2021)
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated government-mandated shutdowns disrupted schooling, socialization, and family life for school-aged children during spring 2020. These disruptions may have contributed to increased child behavior problems. Thus, we examined behavior problems in 247 children aged 7 to 9 years during Ohio's shutdown period. We investigated whether differences in parent-reported child behavior problems were associated with concurrent parent distress during spring 2020 and/or children's social-emotional skills measured via teacher-reports from the previous year (spring 2019). Parent distress significantly predicted behavior problems, such that more distressed parents also reported more child behavior problems. Child pre-pandemic peer social skills also significantly predicted behavior problems, such that more skilled children exhibited fewer behavior problems. There were no interaction effects between parent distress and children's social-emotional skills on child behavior problems. Further research is needed to understand how children's social-emotional skills impact their ability to cope during times of epidemiological crisis.
Keyphrases
  • mental health
  • young adults
  • healthcare
  • sars cov
  • emergency department
  • radiation therapy
  • medical students
  • electronic health record
  • high speed