Parental History of Trauma and Resilience during COVID-19
Since the first cases of community spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S., various restrictions such as shelter-in-place, closure of public schools, and closure of businesses have impacted millions of Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019; UNESCO, 2020). As the new academic year approaches, states, counties, and cities must weigh the risks of re-opening schools with the potential risks of keeping children and families isolated. Although few rigorous studies have been done, some preliminary data suggests that reports and referrals to child protective services may have decreased (Mathematica, 2020), but experts fear that the drop may be in part due to reduced contact with professionals such as teachers who are trained to identify signs of maltreatment (Piquero et al., 2020; Rosenthal & Thompson, 2020; Teo & Griffiths, 2020). Yet, it is unclear how families are faring, or what is contributing to family resilience during these turbulent times. This study examined family stress and resilience among families with children ages zero-to-five during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.
Theoretical Framework: The ABCX Model among Families in Crisis
During times of crisis, multiple family factors and dimensions can impact how the family makes sense of, addresses, and adapts to stressors (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983). The ABC family crisis model posits that family stressors, such as significant life events may impact overall family functioning (Hill, 1958). In addition to stressors, such as financial hardship or loss of a loved one, family resources to cope with stress and the family perception and significance of stressor intersect to influence a family’s ability to avoid the stressor becoming a crisis (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983). Furthermore, over time, stressors may pile up, leading to crises and a need to cope, seek out new resources, and adapt. Prior research has examined family adaptation after family crises such as health issues (Clark, 1999; Hesamzadeh et al., 2015), neurodivergent diagnoses (Manning et al., 2011; Pakenham et al., 2005), and during refugee resettlement (Dalgaard, 2017) through the ABCX model. Given the added economic stressors (Mann et al., 2020), such as employment instability, childcare, housing instability, food instability, and additional family stress from restrictions on everyday life and routines, the current study examines diverse stressors as well as resilience and protective factors to capture the family’s ability to respond to added stress from COVID-19.
Literature Review
During times of crisis, children often observe their parents’ reactions to stress and interpret the traumatic event based on parental emotional responses (Brom et al., 2009; Cummings, 2018). Indeed, parental coping (Weems et al., 2012) and parental mental health (Endo et al., 2007) have been found to impact child well-being after disasters or other crises. In parallel, parenting stress has been found to fully mediate the relationship between external stressors, such as financial crisis, and child outcomes such as child behavior problems (Puff & Renk, 2014). In addition to parental reactions to stress, other factors, such as child special needs or prior diagnoses such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been linked to more sensitivity to the impact of crises, such as Hurricane Katrina (Weems et al., 2012). Parent’s sensitivity to child stress has also been linked to better outcomes among children exposed to extreme stress, such as survivors of Hurricane Katrina (Lai et al., 2015). Other factors that are linked to vulnerability after crises include younger child age (Cohen et al., 2009), larger family support systems (De Prewitt & Richards, 2019), and social factors such as participation in informal social networks, and economic, political, and social structures that can impact resources and ability to adapt to stressors (Noffsinger et al., 2012).
Parenting and Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting Patterns
In addition to the role of parental reactions and well-being in shaping their children’s response and resilience in the face of disasters or crises, prior literature has found a parent’s own experiences with adversity and trauma to influence their parenting skills and resilience. For example, prior research has found a link between an individual’s exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their own parenting stress (Steele et al., 2016), skills and resilience (Panisch et al., 2020). ACEs can include adversity within the family context, such as exposure to child maltreatment or living with a caregiver who has substance use issues (Anda et al., 1999; Felitti et al., 1998), or community-level ACEs such as neighborhood violence (Cronholm et al., 2015; Wade et al., 2016). Both family- and community- ACEs have been found to be negatively correlated with parenting skills and resilience (LaBrenz et al., 2020). Other scholars have also found that exposure to community-ACEs has a potential to negatively impact parents’ psychological functioning and children’s social emotional competence (Al’Uqdah et al., 2015).
Nonetheless, while several studies have linked ACEs to outcomes that may impact parenting, such as adult mental health (Jones et al., 2018; Merrick et al., 2017; Mersky et al., 2018) and resilience (Liu et al., 2020; Logan- Greene et al., 2014), recent literature has called for more in-depth empirical studies of which items should be included in ACE screenings or questionnaires (Finkelhor, 2018). For example, the original ACE study conducted in California did not include neighborhood violence, bullying, or experiencing racial and ethnic discrimination, but more recent versions have included items to capture those constructs (Cronholm et al., 2015; Finkelhor et al., 2013). Although the inclusion of expanded ACE items has primarily occurred within the last decade, researchers have found that it may better capture the range of adversities that some demographic groups may experience more often, such as racial or ethnic discrimination among people of color (Cronholm et al., 2015), or bullying among LGBTQ individuals (Earnshaw et al., 2017). Indeed, the traditional ACE items were developed and piloted on a largely White, middle class population. Therefore, including expanded ACE items in studies may help capture different dimensions of adversity. During COVID-19, this could be particularly useful as some of the expanded ACE items include housing insecurity, food insecurity, and job insecurity, all of which may be rising issues in families impacted by the pandemic and the subsequent restrictions.
Parental Resilience and Protective Factors
Although a robust body of literature has established a link between ACEs and long-term negative outcomes, there has been less focus on strengths or protective factors that may mitigate the impact of early childhood exposure to adversity. An individual’s positive adaptation when faced with risk, stress, or adversity, is referred to as resilience (Greene, 2013). Within the family system, parental resilience refers to the “capacity of parents to deliver a competent and quality level of parenting to children despite the presence of risk factors” (Gavidia-Payne et al., 2015, p. 111). In parallel, protective factors are characteristics that can be modified to boost a person’s response to stress (Meng et al., 2018; Rutter, 1985). Indeed, protective factors have been linked to lower levels of juvenile delinquency (Jeon & Chun, 2017; Summersett et al., 2019), less aggressive behavior (Meng et al., 2018), and lower rates of maltreatment (Schelbe & Geiger, 2016). Some prior research has linked resilience to lower levels of anxiety during crises such as war or attacks (Braun-Lewensohn & Sagy, 2014; Zeidner, 2005), and that resilience may buffer the relationship between stressful life events and psychiatric symptoms (Hjemdal et al., 2006). Other studies have also found that through resilience, individuals with a history of ACEs are able to achieve higher levels of psychological functioning (Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2007; Cicchetti, 2010; Maples, Park, Nolen, & Rosén, 2014). Systematic reviews have also found that resilience improves the health and mental health outcomes for individuals with a history of ACEs (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011; Waechter & Wekerle, 2015). Thus, resilience and other protective factors may be particularly beneficial for families now as they navigate added stress due to COVID- 19 and try to re-adapt and transition to new routines.
One consistent protective factor that has been linked to positive parenting practices and parental resilience is social (Armstrong et al., 2005; Wilson et al., 2014) and emotional support networks (Flessner et al., 2017). Social and emotional support may help foster resilience in times of adversities and lead to positive parenting practices, less parent-child conflict, and less use of harsh physical disciplining measures (Liu et al., 2020). For example, in the aftermath of wildfires, one study found that among youth with high levels of stress associated with the natural disaster, emotional support mediated the relationship between stress and resilience (Sprague et al., 2015). During the current COVID-19 pandemic, regular social support systems may be impacted given directives to avoid contact with people outside of one’s household.
Child Development and the Critical Years of Infancy and Toddlerhood
The first five years of childhood represents a critical period of human development and strongly influences a child’s development later in life (Insana et al., 2016). Scholars have found that by age three, a child’s brain is 90% of its size as an adult, thereby highlighting the rapid development which occurs during the first three years of life (White & Webster-Stratton, 2014). Exposing children to high levels of stress can lead to the over development of stress response and higher levels of cortisol, which are toxic for brain development (White & Webster-Stratton, 2014). Indeed, developmental psychologists and neurobiologists have recognized that exposure to ACEs and chronic stress during the first years of life has the potential to significantly disrupt normal brain development including reduced thickness in some brain areas (Johnson et al., 2016; Tottenham & Sheridan, 2009). One of the most consistent findings is an association between ACEs and hippocampal and amygdala connectivity (Barch et al., 2016; Hanson et al., 2015; Luby et al., 2013). In particular, changes in the hippocampal and amygdala connectivity have been found to be pronounced among children exposed to ACEs in early life (Barch et al., 2016). As a result, scholars have made the case for the protection of children ages zero-to-five during disasters and crises (Ager et al., 2010; Barrientos & Nino-Zararua, 2011). One article has already noted the impact of accumulation of adverse childhood experiences on children already at risk for abuse and neglect during the COVID-19 pandemic (Bryce, 2020).
The global COVID-19 pandemic poses significant risks to children’s well-being as not only do children face increased vulnerability to abuse and neglect as a result of shelter-in-place and lockdown measures, but social and academic development are compromised due to the closure of schools and daycares. Griffith (2020) warns about the likelihood of increased parental burnout during the pandemic and consequently, increased child maltreatment.
Another resource that has been linked to better child and parent outcomes, such as lower rates of maternal stress, improved parenting quality, and improved child behavior and language acquisition, is reliable and quality childcare (Yamaguchi et al., 2018). In parallel, parental fatigue has been linked to increasing parenting stress and higher irritability in parent-child interactions (Cooklin et al., 2012). Additionally, some experts have explored increased vulnerability for family and intimate partner violence during this time (Kaukinen, 2020; Piquero et al., 2020; Usher et al., 2020). These concerns, paired with challenges in child and adolescent mental health (Fegert et al., 2020), underscore the necessity of family resilience research specific to the present context.
Current Study
This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1) How have parents of children ages 0-5 experienced parental resilience and protective factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: 2) How does past adversity during a parent’s own childhood impact protective factors during the COVID-19 pandemic?; and 3) How do additional stressors during COVID-19, such as adherence to social distancing and reduction in child care, impact parental resilience and protective factors?