ABSTRACT
The challenges and consequences of COVID-19 imposed massive changes in adolescents' daily routines (e.g., school closures, home confinement, and social distancing rules), which impacted their mental health. This longitudinal study aimed to better understand the changes in adolescents' internalizing symptoms and the underlying mechanisms of parental stress due to COVID-19. We asked 1053 parents of adolescents to complete an online survey during the second and fifth weeks and at the end of home confinement (i.e., four weeks later). Results showed that parents reported their adolescents' anxiety and depression symptoms were more severe at Time 2 than at the first administration. Anxiety symptoms slightly decreased at Time 3, while there was no significant change in depression symptoms. Moreover, parents' expressive suppression mediated the association between parental stress and adolescents' anxiety and depression symptoms, respectively. The findings suggest that as restriction increased, adolescents' anxiety and depression became more severe. Moreover, due to the link between parental stress and adolescents' internalizing disorders helping families to cope with the distress due to the pandemic may have a positive impact on parents, the child, and the family as a whole (i.e., the family climate).
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Adolescent , Child , Depression/epidemiology , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Longitudinal Studies , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
In February 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) appeared and spread rapidly in Italy. With the health emergency and social isolation, parents started spending more time with their children, and they might have experienced greater distress. Attachment style is considered as an effective emotion regulation strategy in the parent-child relationship. However, few empirical studies have addressed this issue. Based on attachment theory, this study aimed to find parental attachment style as a candidate to moderate the relation between parents' negative emotions and their perceptions of their children's negative emotions related to COVID-19. Parents (Mage = 42.55 ± 6.56, 88.2% female) of 838 Italian children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 years participated in an online survey. Results showed that parents with a fearful attachment style had significantly higher negative emotions when facing COVID-19 than those with other attachment styles. Moreover, parents with a dismissing attachment style perceived fewer negative emotions in their children than parents with fearful and preoccupied styles. At last, higher parents' negative emotions were associated with greater perception of children's negative emotions only in parents classified as secure and fearful. These findings suggest that parents with dismissing and fearful attachment styles and their children may be at higher risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and they should be given long-term attention.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has affected learning and the outdoor activities of more than 862 million children or adolescents worldwide. This study investigated the mental health of Italian children and explored their psychological response and coping strategies in different COVID-19 epidemic severity areas, with the aims of alleviating the impacts of COVID-19, promoting targeted intervention, and reducing the risk of future psychological problems. 1074 parents of children aged 6 to 12 years old participated in an ad-hoc online survey. Among them, 40.3% were from the high-risk areas in the North, and 59.7% were from the medium/low-risk areas in the center of Italy. The results showed that, compared to the children in medium- or low-risk areas, children in the North scored significantly higher for symptoms of anxiety, moods, and cognitive changes, showing a "ripple effect" trend. Moreover, children in the northern areas used fewer task-oriented strategies and more emotion- and avoidance-oriented strategies than those in the central areas. Specifically, children in the northern areas were more likely to show acceptance and seek affection from others, while those in the central areas used more humor when their parents talked about quarantine or coronavirus. These findings provide relevant evidence and a reference point for crisis management in children's mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Abstract (Spanish) El COVID-19 ha afectado el aprendizaje y las actividades al aire libre de mas de 862 millones de ninos o adolescentes en todo el mundo. Este estudio investigo la salud mental de los ninos italianos y exploro su respuesta psicologica y las estrategias de afrontamiento en diferentes areas de gravedad de la epidemia de COVID-19, con el objetivo de aliviar los impactos de la misma, promover la intervencion especifica y reducir el riesgo de futuros problemas psicologicos. 1074 padres de ninos entre 6 a 12 anos de edad participaron en una encuesta ad-hoc online. De ellos, el 40,3% procedian de las zonas de alto riesgo del norte y el 59,7% de las zonas de riesgo medio/bajo del centro de Italia. Los resultados mostraron que, en comparacion con los ninos de las areas de riesgo medio o bajo, los ninos del norte obtuvieron una puntuacion significativamente mas alta en cuanto a los sintomas de ansiedad, cambios cognitivos y de estado de animo, mostrando una tendencia de "efecto domino". Ademas, los ninos de las zonas del norte utilizaron menos estrategias orientadas a las tareas y mas estrategias orientadas a las emociones - y la evitacion - que los de las zonas centrales. Concretamente, los ninos de las zonas del norte eran mas propensos a mostrar aceptacion y a buscar el afecto de los demas, mientras que los de las zonas centrales usaban mas el humor cuando sus padres hablaban de la cuarentena o del coronavirus. Estos hallazgos proporcionan evidencia relevante y un punto de referencia para el manejo de crisis en la salud mental de los ninos. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)