About this paper symposium

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Panel information
Panel 9. Family Context & Processes

Paper #1
Resilience in the face of adversity: A systematic review exploring family adaptation amid COVID-19
Author information	Role
Gillian Shoychet, York University, Canada	Presenting author
Heather Prime, York University, Canada	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Background. Families with children were particularly affected by the adverse social disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation efforts. Variables such as financial burden, school closures, lack of childcare, and limited opportunities for socialization, were among the various COVID-related challenges caregivers and children faced. The COVID-19 Family Disruption Model (FDM) was developed at the onset of the pandemic to conceptualize the cascading impact these disruptions had on family and child functioning. At the time the model was developed, there were no published studies on the consequences of COVID-19 for children and families. Thus, the COVID-19 FDM was developed using prior systemic models of development and family well-being, in addition to research on historical adversities to child and family functioning, such as economic hardship, natural disasters, terrorism, and poverty. The current systematic review assesses the empirical support for the model to explicate how families adapted to the acute phase of the pandemic. Such an endeavour provides critical information about possible pathways to resilience in families in response to future adversities. Methods. This review was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews and follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology. A systematic search of PsycINFO (Ovid) and MEDLINE (Ovid) was conducted to identify studies. Eligibility included: (1) children ≤ 18 years (and/or their caregivers), (2) a quantitative longitudinal design, (3) findings published in the first 2.5 years of COVID-19, and (4) an assessment of child functioning (e.g., emotion regulation) and caregiver (e.g., parenting stress) or family functioning (e.g., family conflict) within one of the FDM’s predetermined pathways (see Figure 1). Two reviewers completed abstract and full-text screening, data extraction, and quality assessments. Studies were not excluded based on their quality assessment scores. Results. A systematic search in August of 2022 yielded over 4,000 studies, of which 1,496 were screened, and 503 moved on to full-text review. The final review consisted of 47 studies. Findings were summarized with descriptive statistics, tables, and a narrative synthesis. There was support for cascading processes within the family system, including bidirectional pathways between caregiver-child and family-child functioning, particularly for child internalizing problems. Discussion. This study provides empirical support for the COVID-19 FDM for understanding processes of risk and resilience in children and families during the pandemic. Through an iterative review of our synthesis findings, our team generated several themes: (1) mechanisms of influence (i.e., why relationships exist between variables) and (2) processes of risk and resilience. Themes of complementarity in relationships and stress inoculation also emerged, which were not part of the original FDM. We identify future directions for research on risk and resilience in families during the pandemic, highlighting that these are dynamic processes and will likely change across time. Taken together, the COVID-19 FDM provides (1) a framework for informing research, policy, and clinical practice for better understanding how families are, and continue to be, impacted by the pandemic and (2) suggestions for current and future family recovery efforts in response to other types of adversity.

Paper #2
Can a brief couples intervention support coparenting during times of stress? Findings from L2P2 program
Author information	Role
Jazzmin Demy, York University, Canada	Presenting author
Marc Jambon, Wilfred Laurier University, Canada	Non-presenting author
Mark Wade, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Canada	Non-presenting author
Amy Muise, York University, Canada	Non-presenting author
Heather Prime, York University, Canada	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Despite having the same goal—to benefit children and families—interventions targeting parenting, couples’ relationship quality, and child development are typically siloed (Cowan & Cowan, 2019). In two-parent households, the relationship between parents, or the interparental relationship, forms an executive subsystem that is essential to family functioning and child well-being (Cummings & Davies, 2010; Minuchin, 1985; van Eldik et al., 2020). One identified pathway through which the interparental relationship influences children’s well-being is through the more proximal coparenting subsystem. Indeed, how partners coordinate their child-rearing efforts, engage in supportive or undermining parenting behaviour, and manage child-rearing conflicts (i.e., their coparenting relationship; Feinberg, 2003; McHale, 2007) has important implications for child social, emotional, and behavioural development (Holland & McElwain, 2013; Teubert & Pinquart, 2010). The current study examines whether there are secondary benefits of a brief couple’s intervention to the quality of the coparenting relationship for parenting couples at risk for relationship difficulties, with risk operationalized as both the developmental stage of having young children, and the widespread stress imbued by the COVID-19 pandemic. The central goal was to determine whether these secondary benefits operate through couples’ relationship quality, conflict, or both. Identifying the myriad familial benefits of couple’s interventions will help to bridge traditionally siloed areas of relationship, developmental, and family science. Methods. A community sample of couples with young children (N = 140 couples; 280 participants; 91.4% heterosexual; 61.1% White; 49.3% women) participated in a longitudinal randomized controlled trial during the COVID19 pandemic. Couples in the intervention group (L2P2) were taught and given an opportunity to practice conflict reappraisal strategies, whereas those in the control group received an inactive control task. Both members of the couple reported on perceived relationship quality and conflict frequency (at baseline and post-intervention), and coparenting (at baseline, 1-month, and 3-month follow-up). Results. Controlling for baseline levels, a longitudinal, parallel mediation analysis including both relationship quality and conflict frequency as mediators indicated that the indirect effect of random assignment to L2P2 to coparenting via relationship quality was significant (b = .08, 95% CI 0.01, 0.19]), but the indirect effect through conflict frequency was not (b = .000, 95% CI [–0.02, 0.02]). Results for coparenting at 3-month follow-up were similar, demonstrating a significant indirect effect via relationship quality (b = .09, 95% CI [0.02, 0.21]), but not conflict frequency (b = –.002, 95% CI [–0.04, 0.01]). Discussion. There are positive cascading effects of a couple-focused intervention onto the relationship between parents, which in turn enhances their ability to work together to parent their child. Findings may inform program design to improve and deliver effective, scalable family-centric programs, acknowledging the interconnectedness of the well-being of parents, couples, and children and aimed at supporting the whole family through daily challenges and future widespread adversities. Teaching couples healthy conflict dynamics, strategically delivered during the developmental period of having young children, and to a population that has disproportionately been impacted by the pandemic, has the potential for positive “spill over” into other family subsystems; ultimately, serving to enhance the overall well-being of families and improve outcomes for children.

Paper #3
Family cohesion and parental mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A 16-wave longitudinal study
Author information	Role
Carolyn Albright, Pennsylvania State University, United States	Presenting author
Gregory M. Fosco, Pennsylvania State University, United States	Non-presenting author
Zachary Fisher, Pennsylvania State University, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
The dynamic and novel nature of the COVID-19 pandemic intensified stress for parents with young children, placing them at higher risk for declines in their mental health, particularly their meaning in life, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms. Positive relationships with one’s family members may help off-set the stress of the pandemic for parents and promote parental mental health. To understand the impacts of COVID-19 on parents and families, we conducted a 16-wave longitudinal study (MOccasions=12.94) throughout the first year of the pandemic (May 2020-April 2021). Our sample consisted of 204 parents (MAge=27.33, SDAge=.79, 74.5% Female; 90.7% White, 10.8% of Hispanic origin) with young children (MAge=4.17, SDAge=2.17, 45.1% female) from a larger longitudinal study on family processes. We evaluated whether life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression changed over the course of the pandemic by fitting three multilevel models to examine the within- and between-person effects of COVID-19 stress and family cohesion on parental life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression. We hypothesized that parents’ COVID-19 related stress would be associated with diminished mental health (i.e., lower life satisfaction and meaning in life, and higher depression) at both the between- and within-person level. Second, we evaluated whether family cohesion plays a protective role for parental mental health amidst COVID-19 related stress. Results indicated COVID-19 related stress was a significant predictor of life satisfaction (γ01=-0.10, p<0.01), meaning in life (γ01=-0.09, p<0.01), and depression (γ01=0.10, p<0.01) at the between-person level, suggesting that parents who were higher than the sample average in COVID-19 related stress reported lower life satisfaction and meaning in life and higher depression relative to other parents in the sample. Additionally, on occasions when parents reported higher levels of COVID-19 related stress, they exhibited decreases in life satisfaction (γ20=-0.06, p<0.01) and meaning in life (γ20=-0.05, p<0.01), and increases in depression (γ20= 0.05, p<0.01). Family cohesion, on the other hand, was a protective factor. Parents who had more cohesive families reported higher levels of life satisfaction (γ02=0.22, p<0.01) and meaning in life (γ02=0.23, p<0.01) and lower levels of depression (γ02=-0.11, p<0.01) at the between-person level. Moreover, on occasions when parents experienced more family cohesion than their average, they experienced increases in life satisfaction (γ30=0.08, p<0.01) and meaning in life (γ30=0.06, p<0.01) and decreases in depression (γ30=-0.04, p<0.01). The results of the final models indicated that the within-person family cohesion and within-person COVID-19 related stress interaction term was significant for depression. As shown in Figure 1, COVID-19 related stress had a stronger association with depression on occasions when parents reported lower family cohesion (γ50=-0.01, p=0.03). The stress of the pandemic had a significant effect on parental mental health, but family cohesion was an important factor for supporting parents’ mental health. More broadly, identifying strategies to bolster family cohesion during times of heightened family stress may help to mitigate against the impact on parents’ well-being.

Paper #4
Examining stable and dynamic longitudinal family processes linking marital and sibling challenges during COVID-19
Author information	Role
Oana Bucsea, York University, Canada	Presenting author
David Flora, York University, Canada	Non-presenting author
Dillon Browne, University of Waterloo, Canada	Non-presenting author
Heather Prime, York University, Canada	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has been referred to as a multisystem disaster (Masten & Motti-Stefanidi, 2020), leading to severe disruptions in functioning at the individual, family, and community levels. Within families, the pandemic has exerted adverse effects on child and caregiver well-being, as well as parent-child interactions. Given the widespread challenges caused by the pandemic within and across family units, a multisystem approach to stress and resilience must be employed to better understand how families have adapted when faced with a severe global stressor. Research on family dynamics during COVID-19 has demonstrated how challenges within one relationship in the family led to challenges in other family subsystems in the form of “spillover” processes. However, studies examining spillover processes have mainly focused on the parent-child unit, with other family subsystems (i.e., marital and sibling units) remaining understudied (Shoychet et al., 2023). Therefore, the current study examined the nature of the reciprocal effects linking the marital and sibling subsystems longitudinally throughout the early months of the pandemic, as well as the moderating impact of pandemic-related stress on these pathways. Hypotheses: It was hypothesized that, regardless of COVID-19 stress levels, more marital conflict would predict more sibling challenges, and vice versa, across the pandemic. Furthermore, we expected COVID-19 stress to moderate this relationship, such that the bidirectional links between marital conflict and sibling challenges would be stronger in families reporting more pandemic-related stress. Study population: The current sample consisted of 505 caregivers (Mage = 41.36, SDage = 6.32; 66.5% females; 70.2% had at least some post-secondary education; 73% White/European) and sibling dyads (younger child Mage = 9.17, SDage = 3.02, 45.7% female; older child Mage = 12.24, SDage = 3.16, 49.2% female). Methods: Data was collected at four timepoints (T1: May 2020; T2: July 2020; T3: September 2020; T4: November 2020). Caregivers reported on pandemic-related stress at T1, and marital conflict and sibling challenges at T1-T4. Results: Using a four-wave random-intercept cross-lagged panel model, results showed that, on average, more marital conflict is related to more sibling challenges, consistent with spillover effects (Nelson et al., 2009). However, negative predictive cross-lagged effects linked marital and sibling conflict throughout the pandemic, such that greater sibling challenges at T1 predicted less marital conflict at T2, which in turn predicted greater sibling challenges at T3, consistent with compensatory effects (Zemp et al., 2021; Figure 1). Degree of pandemic-related stress did not moderate the links between marital and sibling challenges. Discussion: Taken together, differential mechanisms may account for stable between family differences in rates of conflict and emotional expression versus dynamic within-family fluctuations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings indicate a shift in the typical dynamics between family subsystems during periods of significant upheaval when families may be attempting to adapt and maintain equilibrium within the family (Cox & Paley, 1997; MacPhee et al., 2015). Overall, the current results further our understanding of dynamic family processes in periods of significant stress and may subsequently inform family-based interventions aimed at supporting families navigate future multisystem adversities and challenges.

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