Symposia
Parenting / Families
Lauren Jones, M.A.
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
Elizabeth J. Kiel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Miami University
Oxford, OH
Aaron Luebbe, Ph.D.
Professor
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
M. Cameron Hay, Ph.D.
Professor
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
Background: COVID-19 has led to increases in anxiety and depression worldwide (Racine et al., 2021), and specifically for parents (Westrupp et al., 2021). Given that difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) have been shown to predict internalizing symptoms (Raver et al., 2016), parents that had ER difficulties prior to the pandemic may be at increased risk for anxiety and depression during the pandemic. Social support may serve as a protective factor for parents during COVID-19 as it has been shown to be protective for parents experiencing higher stress levels (Khusaifan et al., 2021). The current study will test whether mid-pandemic social support serves as a buffer in the relation between pre-pandemic maternal ER difficulties and later pandemic anxiety and depression symptoms above and beyond mothers’ physiological regulation (i.e., baseline RSA), child characteristics associated with parent stress (i.e., child effortful control (EF); Andreadakis et al., 2020), and mid-pandemic anxiety and depression symptoms.
Methods: At time 1 (pre-pandemic), mothers and children ages 1, 2, and 3 completed a laboratory visit as part of a larger longitudinal study (n = 105). Mothers completed questionnaires on their emotion regulation (Gratz & Roemer, 2004) and their child’s EF (Rothbart et al., 2001). Mothers’ baseline RSA was also measured using ECG. At time 2 (i.e., late Spring through Summer of 2020) mothers from this sample completed questionnaires about their anxiety and depression symptoms (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) and their level of social support (Raes et al., 2011). At time 3 (i.e., late Fall through Winter of 2020-2021), mothers completed a follow-up measure of their anxiety and depression symptoms.
Results: Multiple imputation was used for missing data. Pooled estimates are reported. Results revealed that time 1 maternal ER difficulties and time 2 social support interacted to predict time 3 depression and anxiety symptoms, over and above time 1 maternal baseline RSA, time 1 child EF, and time 2 depression and anxiety symptoms. Probing revealed that higher maternal ER difficulties predicted increases in depression and anxiety, only at low (t= 3.223, p=.003) and mean (t= 2.776, p=.007) levels of social support.
Conclusions: Social support during the pandemic disrupted the relationship between pre-pandemic ER difficulties and later pandemic anxiety and depression symptoms in mothers. Thus, social support interventions for mothers may positively support mental health outcomes before, during, and after times of crisis and disaster.