Impact of COVID-19 on Parent and Child Mental Health in India: A Mixed-methods Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected individuals around the world. Parents of young children have experienced significant strain as they have attempted to balance their work obligations as well as take care of household duties and attend to the needs of their young children. Several studies have demonstrated the detrimental impacts of COVID-19 on parent and child mental health. However, the majority of studies are quantitative, cross-sectional in nature, and were conducted during the early phases of the pandemic. Moreover, there is limited work on the topic of parent and child mental health within the COVID-19 context among families in India. Thus, the current mixed-methods longitudinal study aimed to fill these gaps in the literature by attempting to examine the impact of COVID-19 on child mental health and parent mental health among families with young children in India. The study also aimed to understand the moderating effects of parenting behaviors with relation to child COVID-19-related stress and child mental health difficulties, and the moderating effects of social support with relation to parent COVID-19-related stress and parent mental health difficulties. One hundred and forty parents of children between the ages of 4 to 8 completed a survey between October 2020 and February 2021 (Time 1), of which 85 parents completed it between May 2021 and July 2021 (Time 2), and 70 completed it between July 2022 and October 2022 (Time 3). Qualitative in-depth individual interviews were conducted with a subset of the sample (n=20) between July 2022 and December 2022 to gain a better understanding of challenges experienced by parents and how the pandemic impacted them and their children in various ways over the course of the pandemic. The findings indicated that the stress caused by changes brought about by the pandemic was related to parent and child mental health in India. Parents in India experienced several challenges that impacted their mental health. Factors contributing to those challenges, and in turn, possibly their mental health are discussed. Parenting behaviors such as parental nurturance and restrictiveness were also related to child mental health and served as moderators of the relation between child COVID-19-related stress and child mental health difficulties; parental nurturance emerged as a protective factor while parental restrictiveness was a possible risk factor. Perceived social support was negatively linked with parent mental health difficulties, and it also served as a buffer in the relation of parent COVID-19-related stress and parent mental health difficulties at Time 1. Qualitative findings also indicated that support from spouse, other family members, friends and co-workers helped parents cope with the challenges associated with the pandemic. In sum, the findings of this study helped identify important risk and protective factors for parent and child mental health within the COVID-19 context in India. The findings have important clinical implications that inform future intervention efforts to support children and families during related stressful events.