About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 25. Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

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Anxiety has been found to be one of the most common emotional difficulties among children during the COVID-19 lockdown (Fortuna et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2022). Experiencing anxiety during early childhood may increase the risk of long-lasting socioemotional consequences like chronic anxiety, comorbid mood or externalizing problems, and impairments in peer relationships (Rapee et al., 2023). Within a developmental transactional framework (Vasey et al., 2014), child anxiety may, in part, be shaped by and shape parenting behaviors, characterized by high levels of control and low levels of warmth. Researchers have found that these parenting behaviors may contribute to the maintenance of children’s anxiety over time, as well as to comorbid emotional and peer difficulties (Manuele et al., 2023; Möller et al., 2016; Rubin & Chronis-Tuscano, 2021). The family resilience framework (Walsh, 2015) also acknowledges that the form of parenting leadership is one of the factors that can either intensify or offset the impact of stressors, like the COVID-19 lockdown (Prime et al., 2020).
This study examined the associations between children’s anxiety during the first-wave COVID-19 lockdown and subsequent socioemotional adjustment during the reopening stage, depending on the levels of maternal warmth and control. The sample comprised 100 Portuguese mothers of children aged 3-7 years. Mothers completed the Portuguese versions of the Preschool Anxiety Scale and the Modified Child-Rearing Practices Questionnaire to assess children’s anxiety symptoms and parenting behaviors during the first-wave lockdown (Time1). Furthermore, mothers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure children’s socioemotional adjustment during the transition to the reopening phase (Time2).
Moderated regression analyses examining the interaction effects of anxiety symptoms and parenting behaviors in the prediction of children’s emotional problems during the reopening stage were not statistically significant (F = 1.75, p = .120, when considering general anxiety symptoms; F = 1.77, p = .117, when considering separation anxiety symptoms). However, Table 1 shows that moderated regression analyses revealed significant and marginally significant interaction effects between anxiety symptoms and parenting warmth/control in the prediction of prosocial behaviors and conduct problems, respectively. Figure 1 shows that mothers who reported that their children displayed more general and separation symptoms indicated that their children’s prosocial behaviors decreased, and conduct problems increased, when they considered that their parenting behaviors were characterized by lower levels of nurturance and higher levels of restrictiveness.
Our findings diverge from previous research conducted during non-pandemic circumstances, in which mothers who perceived their children as more anxious and described lower levels of parental warmth and higher levels of psychological control reported increased levels of subsequent internalizing difficulties in their children (McLeod et al., 2007; Möller et al., 2016). In contrast, our findings suggest that such maternal behaviors during the first-wave lockdown are associated with maternal reports of increased peer and externalizing difficulties in their children. The social disruptions on children’s peer interactions during the Covid-19 lockdown (Prime et al., 2020) and the proneness of younger children to display externalizing behaviors when experiencing anxiety (Rapee et al., 2023) may have contributed to the obtained findings.

Author information

Author	Role
António J. Santos, Ph.D., William James Center for Research, ISPA - Instituto Universitário	Presenting author
Maryse Guedes, Ph.D., William James Center for Research, ISPA - Instituto Universitário	Non-presenting author
Olívia Ribeiro, William James Center for Research, ISPA - Instituto Universitário	Non-presenting author
Nicholas Wagner, Boston University	Non-presenting author
Kenneth H. Rubin, University of Maryland	Non-presenting author
Manuela Veríssimo, William James Center for Research, ISPA - Instituto Universitário	Non-presenting author

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