Long-term Effects of Adolescent Substance Use Prevention on Participants, Partners, and their Children: Resiliency and Outcomes 15 Years Later During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We examined whether participation in adolescent substance use prevention programming can enhance long-term resilience into adulthood such that individuals were better able to cope with adversities during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, yielding benefits for the individuals, their partners/spouses, and children; 197 adults (28-30 years old) who entered the PROSPER randomized trial of substance use prevention programming as 6th graders and subsequently had become parents-and 128 of their partners-participated in two waves of long-term follow-up data collection. Respondents completed questionnaires on substance use, adjustment, parenting quality, and children's mood and behavior problems 15 years after baseline, and again via an online survey in the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results were mixed, with some indications of better adjustment of PROSPER intervention compared to control participants during the early phase of the pandemic (less increase in alcohol use and less decrease in parenting warmth) and their children (lower levels of externalizing and internalizing problems) but several null results as well (no differences in other substance use behaviors, other parenting measures, or parent depression). Adolescent substance use prevention programs can foster long-term individual and interpersonal resilience factors that allow participants-as well as their children-to adapt and cope with unforeseen periods of acute stress and adversity with less deterioration in health and well-being.

Family vulnerability, disruption, and chaos predict parent and child COVID-19 health-protective behavior adherence.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the role of family functioning in predicting family adherence to health-protective behaviors (HPBs) aimed at reducing COVID-19 spread. Pre-COVID-19 family functioning, disruptions to family functioning (cohesion, conflict, routines), and family chaos during the COVID-19 pandemic were tested as pathways to HPB adherence. METHOD: We utilized a sample of N = 204 families, comprising parents who had children (MAge = 4.17). Parents (MAge = 27.43) completed one survey prior to COVID-19 onset in the United States, and twice during COVID-19, at a 2-week interval. Structural equation modeling was used to test three potential pathways between prepandemic family-level functioning and HPB adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Findings indicated that families with higher levels of chaos during COVID-19 demonstrated consistently lower HPB adherence across all three models. Additionally, disruptions in family cohesion from pre-COVID was associated with lower levels of parent and child HPB adherence. Family conflict was indirectly associated with HPB adherence via family chaos during COVID-19; whereas family routines were not associated with HPB adherence at all. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that family functioning is a meaningful predictor of HPB adherence. Family-based support may be effective in improving HPB adherence by focusing on promoting cohesion and reducing conflict and chaos for families coping with reduced community support and resources. Strategies for family-based supports are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Family vulnerability and disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic: prospective pathways to child maladjustment.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated two risk pathways that may account for increases in child internalizing and externalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: one pathway operating through pre-existing family vulnerability and a second pathway operating through disruption in family functioning occurring in response to the pandemic. We assessed family disruption and family functioning with measures of key family-level and parenting dimensions, including family cohesion, conflict and routines, and parents' harsh discipline, lax discipline and warmth. In all models, pre-pandemic parent emotional distress, financial strain and child maladjustment were included as covariates. METHODS: The sample included 204 families, comprised of parents who had children (MAge = 4.17; 45.1% girls). Parents (MAge = 27.43) completed the first survey prior to COVID-19 onset in the United States, a second survey after COVID-19 onset in May 2020 and a third survey two weeks later. RESULTS: Analyses were conducted in a model-building fashion, first computing structural equation models for each family and parenting dimension separately, then advancing significant dimensions into one integrated model for the family-level factors and a second model for parenting quality factors. Results provided more support for the family disruption hypothesis across all tests. In the family-level domain, decreases in family cohesion and increases in family conflict each uniquely predicted subsequent child maladjustment. In the parenting domain, increases in harsh discipline and lax discipline each uniquely predicted subsequent child maladjustment. Family routines and parental warmth were not associated with child adjustment. However, parents' emotional distress prior to the pandemic exhibited a robust association with children's internalizing problems. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that efforts to support families in adapting to unique conditions of the pandemic will yield the greatest effect for child adjustment. Specifically, interventions should include efforts to help families maintain cohesion and manage conflict, and help parents minimize increases in harsh and lax discipline.