Benstead Michelle L, King Gabriella L, Westrupp Elizabeth M
School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC, 3125, Australia.
SEED Lifespan Strategic Research Centre, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2025 Sep 8. doi: 10.1007/s10578-025-01914-3.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique opportunity to investigate the longitudinal associations between parents' pre-pandemic mental health issues and their emotion-related parenting practices during the pandemic, as well as the impact on children's socio-emotional functioning. The present study aimed to: 1) investigate associations between pre-existing parent mental health issues (2019) with children's long-term socio-emotional functioning (2021), via changes in emotion-related parenting practices during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020); and 2) test whether COVID-19 pandemic-related environmental stressors during 2020 and 2021 exacerbated associations between emotion-related parenting practices and children's socio-emotional functioning. Data were drawn from the Child and Parent Emotion Study (CAPES). Parents of children aged 4-9 years (N = 1,046) completed online self-report surveys. A moderated mediation model was estimated via path analysis to test all aims, controlling for covariance. Parent mental health issues at Time 1 were associated with lower levels of emotion coaching practices at Time 2, and emotion dismissing practices at Time 2 were associated with higher levels of children's parent-reported behavioral problems at Time 3. There was no evidence to support mediation effects or a moderating influence of cumulative COVID-19 stressors. The findings highlight the importance of providing parents with mental health support and encourage them to engage in emotion coaching practices. Moreover, parents who receive specific support related to their parenting practices may see improvements in their children's externalizing behavior problems.
新冠疫情提供了一个独特的机会，来研究父母在疫情前的心理健康问题与他们在疫情期间与情绪相关的育儿方式之间的纵向关联，以及对孩子社会情感功能的影响。本研究旨在：1）通过新冠疫情期间（2020年）与情绪相关的育儿方式的变化，调查父母先前存在的心理健康问题（2019年）与孩子长期社会情感功能（2021年）之间的关联；2）测试2020年和2021年与新冠疫情相关的环境压力源是否加剧了与情绪相关的育儿方式和孩子社会情感功能之间的关联。数据来自儿童与父母情绪研究（CAPES）。4至9岁儿童的父母（N = 1046）完成了在线自我报告调查。通过路径分析估计了一个有调节的中介模型，以检验所有目标，并控制协方差。时间1的父母心理健康问题与时间2较低水平的情绪辅导方式相关，时间2的情绪忽视方式与时间3较高水平的父母报告的孩子行为问题相关。没有证据支持中介效应或新冠疫情累积压力源的调节影响。研究结果凸显了为父母提供心理健康支持并鼓励他们采用情绪辅导方式的重要性。此外，在育儿方式方面获得特定支持的父母，可能会看到孩子外化行为问题的改善。
