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Cited by 1,344Child Abuse and TraumaCOVID-19 and Mental HealthChild Welfare and Adoption

Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic

Open access
Brown, Samantha M., Doom, Jenalee R., Lechuga-Peña, Stephanie, Watamura, Sarah Enos, Koppels, Tiffany·2020·Child Abuse & Neglect
DOI 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104699PMC PMC7440155
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Abstract

Background Stress and compromised parenting often place children at risk of abuse and neglect. Child maltreatment has generally been viewed as a highly individualistic problem by focusing on stressors and parenting behaviors that impact individual families. However, because of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), families across the world are experiencing a new range of stressors that threaten their health, safety, and economic well-being.Objective This study examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to parental perceived stress and child abuse potential.Participants and setting Participants included parents (N = 183) with a child under the age of 18 years in the western United States.Method Tests of group differences and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were employed to assess the relationships among demographic characteristics, COVID-19 risk factors, mental health risk factors, protective factors, parental perceived stress, and child abuse potential.Results Greater COVID-19 related stressors and high anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with higher parental perceived stress. Receipt of financial assistance and high anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with higher child abuse potential. Conversely, greater parental support and perceived control during the pandemic are associated with lower perceived stress and child abuse potential. Results also indicate racial and ethnic differences in COVID-19 related stressors, but not in mental health risk, protective factors, perceived stress, or child abuse potential.Conclusion Findings suggest that although families experience elevated stressors from COVID-19, providing parental support and increasing perceived control may be promising intervention targets.

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  • Material hardship and stress, associated with poor infant outcomes, increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “Material hardship and stress, associated with poor infant outcomes, increased during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic.”

    From Material Hardship and Stress from COVID-19 in Immigrant Chinese American Families with Infants (2022) · cites this paper as [3]

    The Results (Experiences regarding COVID-19; page unavailable) report parents’ accounts of lost income, difficulty providing for their families, and increased stress during the pandemic. The paper does not establish an increase relative to before the pandemic or link these hardships and stressors to poor infant outcomes; its reported outcomes concern parenting stress and child abuse potential. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • Caregivers with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress are at higher risk of negative consequences due to COVID-19 and the quarantine.

    “As stated, caregivers with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress are at higher risk of negative consequences due to COVID-19 and the quarantine (Brooks et al., 2020, Brown et al., 2020, Daks et al., 2020).”

    From Brief Transdiagnostic Intervention for Parents With Emotional Disorder Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Example (2021) · cites this paper as Brown et al., 2020

    The Discussion links parents’ anxiety and depressive symptoms with higher perceived stress and child abuse potential during the pandemic. It does not establish the same risk for traumatic-stress symptoms, or show that quarantine caused those outcomes. The indexed passages provide section labels but no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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5 of the 81 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Deater-Deckard K.D. Parenting stress 2004 Yale University Press New Haven, CT
  2. Webb Hooper M. Nápoles A.M. Pérez-Stable E.J. COVID-19 and racial/ethnic disparities JAMA 2020 10.1001/jama.2020.8598 Advance online publication PMC9310097 32391864 · DOI

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Authors
Brown, S. M., Doom, J. R., Lechuga-Peña, S., Watamura, S. E., & Koppels, T.
Affiliations
  • Colorado State University (US)
  • University of Denver (US)
  • Arizona State University (US)
Corresponding author
Brown, Samantha M.
ORCID
Venue
Child Abuse & Neglect
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-12
Volume
110
Issue
Pt 2
Pages
104699
ISSN
0145-2134 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104699
PMC
PMC7440155
OpenAlex
W3052575887
Cited by
1,344
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 47 · 2025: 101 · 2024: 143 · 2023: 280 · 2022: 367 · 2021: 356 · 2020: 50
FWCI
105.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Child Abuse & Neglect (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K01HD098331)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K01HL143159)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, child abuse potential, child maltreatment risk, parental mental health, anxiety and depressive symptoms, financial aid, parental support, perceived control, racial and ethnic differences, protective factors
MeSH terms
COVID-19, Adult, Anxiety, Child, Child Abuse, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Parents, Risk Factors, Stress, Psychological, Parenting, Pandemics

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