Chavez Jennifer V, Lee Tae Kyoung, Larson Michaela E, Behar-Zusman Victoria
School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Miami.
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Couple Family Psychol. 2021 Dec;10(4):233-248. doi: 10.1037/cfp0000166. Epub 2021 Jun 17.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide event that has exacerbated stress and caused significant disruptions in the day-to-day living of families. Of particular concern are socially vulnerable families, which have felt the impacts of the pandemic most acutely. Because stress can alter family dynamics, it is important to understand which stressors impact families the most, and what resources can be leveraged to strengthen family functioning. The current study examined the impacts of COVID-19 on the conflict and cohesion of households with children compared to households without children. Additionally, we sought to assess how conflict and cohesion are related to social vulnerabilities in the context of the pandemic. Using an international sample, we analyzed responses to the COVID-19 Household Environment Scale (N = 4122) using descriptive and bivariate analyses. Latent class analysis was used to identify patterns of family functioning in households with and without children. We found that social vulnerability was associated with more disrupted family functioning, and that households with children (n = 2666) reported less disrupted family functioning when compared to households without children (n = 1456), despite having higher social vulnerability scores. Our exploratory latent class analysis identified a 5-class model among both subgroups. Conflict, cohesion, family functioning and social vulnerability varied significantly by subgroup and class membership. Our findings add to a body of evidence that argues that despite facing greater vulnerability, households with children have many strengths to draw from. Family interventions that help to promote family cohesion and conflict resolution can foster resilience in stressful circumstances.
新冠疫情是一场全球性事件，它加剧了压力，并给家庭的日常生活造成了重大干扰。特别值得关注的是社会弱势群体家庭，它们受疫情的影响最为严重。由于压力会改变家庭动态，因此了解哪些压力源对家庭影响最大，以及可以利用哪些资源来加强家庭功能非常重要。本研究考察了与无子女家庭相比，新冠疫情对有子女家庭的冲突和凝聚力的影响。此外，我们试图评估在疫情背景下，冲突和凝聚力与社会脆弱性之间的关系。我们使用一个国际样本，通过描述性分析和双变量分析，对新冠疫情家庭环境量表（样本量N = 4122）的回答进行了分析。潜在类别分析用于识别有子女家庭和无子女家庭的家庭功能模式。我们发现，社会脆弱性与家庭功能的更多紊乱有关，并且有子女家庭（n = 2666）与无子女家庭（n = 1456）相比，尽管社会脆弱性得分较高，但报告的家庭功能紊乱较少。我们的探索性潜在类别分析在两个亚组中都确定了一个五类模型。冲突、凝聚力、家庭功能和社会脆弱性因亚组和类别成员身份而有显著差异。我们的研究结果补充了一系列证据，这些证据表明，尽管面临更大的脆弱性，但有子女家庭有许多优势可以利用。有助于促进家庭凝聚力和解决冲突的家庭干预措施可以在压力环境中培养恢复力。
