Beyond the Mask: Decoding Children’s Mental Health Patterns Amidst COVID-19 and the Role of Parenting

IF 1.7 4区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL Child & Youth Care Forum Pub Date : 2024-02-07 DOI:10.1007/s10566-024-09793-w

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Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on children and families worldwide. Children’s mental health has been at the forefront of pandemic research, with several observational studies documenting its decline. Limited person-centred research exists, however, investigating the diverse mental health responses of vulnerable children during COVID-19.

Objective

The purpose of this study is to examine the profiles of 289 low-income children’s mental health transitions from pre-COVID-19 to during COVID-19.

Methods

Mothers’ reports of children’s mental health using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire from before ( \(\overline{X }\) = 2.73 years, SD = 0.23) and during ( \(\overline{X }\) = 5.31 years, SD = 0.59) COVID-19 were used.

Results

Three comparable profile solutions were identified pre- and early during the pandemic. Latent transition analysis revealed diverse patterns of children’s mental health trajectory from prior to during COVID-19. Based on transition probabilities, the majority of children in the Average Levels of Internalizing/Externalizing Problems and Externalizing Problems profiles pre-pandemic showed stability in profile membership. Interestingly, most children in the high levels of Internalizing/Externalizing Problems profile pre-pandemic experienced some improvement in their mental health. Pre-pandemic maternal mental health and parenting had significant associations with children’s profile membership at both time points.

Conclusions

Our findings reveal the heterogeneity in children's mental health responses in times of large-scale crises. They also identify how pre-existing maternal risk factors may underlie the diverse experiences of children who underwent declining, stable, or improving mental health profiles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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超越面具：解码 COVID-19 中的儿童心理健康模式及父母的作用

摘要背景 COVID-19 大流行对全世界的儿童和家庭产生了重大影响。儿童心理健康一直处于大流行病研究的前沿，一些观察性研究记录了儿童心理健康的下降。然而，以人为本的研究却很有限，无法调查在 COVID-19 期间弱势儿童的各种心理健康反应。本研究旨在调查 289 名低收入儿童从 COVID-19 前到 COVID-19 期间的心理健康转变情况。方法使用母亲在 COVID-19 之前（（(\overline{X }\) = 2.73 岁，SD = 0.23）和 COVID-19 期间（（(\overline{X }\) = 5.31 岁，SD = 0.59）使用优势与困难问卷对儿童心理健康的报告。结果在大流行前和大流行初期发现了三种可比较的特征解决方案。潜伏转变分析揭示了从 COVID-19 之前到期间儿童心理健康轨迹的不同模式。根据过渡概率，在大流行前，内化/外化问题平均水平和外化问题概况中的大多数儿童在概况成员资格上表现出稳定性。有趣的是，大流行前内化/外化问题程度高的儿童的心理健康状况大多有所改善。在两个时间点上，大流行前的母亲心理健康和养育方式与儿童的特征成员有显著的关联。结论我们的研究结果揭示了大规模危机时期儿童心理健康反应的异质性。这些发现还揭示了在 COVID-19 大流行期间，母亲原有的风险因素可能是导致儿童心理健康状况下降、稳定或改善的不同原因。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Child & Youth Care Forum PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

5.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： Child & Youth Care Forum is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary publication that welcomes submissions – original empirical research papers and theoretical reviews as well as invited commentaries – on children, youth, and families. Contributions to Child & Youth Care Forum are submitted by researchers, practitioners, and clinicians across the interrelated disciplines of child psychology, early childhood, education, medical anthropology, pediatrics, pediatric psychology, psychiatry, public policy, school/educational psychology, social work, and sociology as well as government agencies and corporate and nonprofit organizations that seek to advance current knowledge and practice. Child & Youth Care Forum publishes scientifically rigorous, empirical papers and theoretical reviews that have implications for child and adolescent mental health, psychosocial development, assessment, interventions, and services broadly defined. For example, papers may address issues of child and adolescent typical and/or atypical development through effective youth care assessment and intervention practices. In addition, papers may address strategies for helping youth overcome difficulties (e.g., mental health problems) or overcome adversity (e.g., traumatic stress, community violence) as well as all children actualize their potential (e.g., positive psychology goals). Assessment papers that advance knowledge as well as methodological papers with implications for child and youth research and care are also encouraged.