Symposia
Parenting / Families
Damion Grasso, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
UCONN Health Center
Farmington, Connecticut
Damion Grasso, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
UCONN Health Center
Farmington, Connecticut
Kimberly McCarthy, MSW
Lab Coordinator
University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine
West Hartford, Connecticut
Brandon Goldstein, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine
West Hartford, Connecticut
Matthew Lewin, BS
Medical Student
University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine
West Hartford, Connecticut
Adriana Sowell, BA
Research Assistant
University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine
West Hartford, Connecticut
Margaret Briggs-Gowan, PhD
Associate Professor
University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine
West Hartford, Connecticut
Background. Having a baby necessitates access to and utilization of resources to accommodate the increase in demands on the family (Yali & Lobel, 2002). Coupled with challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, disadvantaged families may have struggled to navigate these demands, with adverse consequences. The present study sought to examine associations between perinatal pandemic-related experiences of mothers who gave birth during the pandemic and maternal psychosocial health, parenting, and infant functioning. Methods. Participants (N = 747) were recruited to complete an online survey that included an inventory of pandemic-related experiences, the Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory (EPII; Grasso et al., 2020), and validated measures of maternal emotion dysregulation (DERS-18), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), posttraumatic stress (PCL 8-item), parenting (PACOTIS), and infant behavior problems (BITSEA). Person-centered latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted on 32 pandemic-related experiences across several domains (e.g., home life, work, social/isolation, health, racial discrimination). Results. The best-fitting LCA solution indicated five classes characterized as High Overall Stress (8.6%), High Caregiving Stress (14.5%), Moderate Stress (30.5%), Low Stress/Increased Workload (17.7%), and Low Stress (28.6%); (BIC = 22,285.68, SABIC = 21,764.91, CAIC = 21,835.86, AWE = 21,917.86, BF = 17.94, cmP = .485). Entropy was high (0.82), suggesting excellent separation of classes. Classes were significantly differentiated on emotion dysregulation (F = 26.35), depression (F = 37.64), anxiety (F = 33.71), posttraumatic stress (F = 42.61), and infant behavior problems (F = 16.45), with high stress classes having greater means across measures (all ps < .001). Also, the High Caregiving Stress class had significantly greater harsh parenting scores relative to the low and moderate stress classes (F = 6.74, p < .001). In addition, there was a significantly greater proportion of Hispanic/Latina individuals classified in the moderate/high stress classes, relative to the low stress classes, 67.8% v. 32.2%, X2 = 8.61, p = .003. Conclusions. Results suggest unique profiles of families based on patterns of perinatal pandemic-related experiences that are differentially associated with risk for maternal psychosocial health problems, harsh parenting, and infant behavior problems. These findings may help to identify families with the greatest need during similar public health disasters and may inform targets for intervention.