Family functioning buffers the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for children's quality of life and loneliness

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dc.contributor.authorSkeens, Micah A.
dc.contributor.authorHill, Kylie
dc.contributor.authorOlsavsky, Anna
dc.contributor.authorRalph, Jessica E.
dc.contributor.authorUdaipuria, Shivika
dc.contributor.authorAkard, Terrah Foster
dc.contributor.authorGerhardt, Cynthia A.
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-02T15:07:30Z
dc.date.available2023-03-02T15:07:30Z
dc.date.issued2023-01-13
dc.description.abstractCOVID-19 resulted in mass quarantine measures early in the pandemic. This disruption of daily life widened inequities and made children one of the most vulnerable populations during the crisis. This national, cross-sectional "COVID-Kids" study collected data from almost 500 parent-child dyads using standardized measures to better understand the effects of COVID exposure and impact on children's quality of life and loneliness. Data were collected via social media from May to July 2020. According to parent proxy and child self-report, United States children experienced worse quality of life (p < 0.0001; d = 0.45 and 0.53) and greater child-reported loneliness (p < 0.0001) when compared to normative, healthy samples (i.e., children who do not have a chronic medical condition). Older children (r = 0.16, p = 0.001) and female children (r = 0.11, p = 0.02) reported greater loneliness. Higher child-reported family functioning scores were associated with better quality of life (r = 0.36, p < 0.0001) and less loneliness (r = -0.49, p < 0.0001). Moderated mediation analyses indicated the indirect effect of parent COVID impact on the association between COVID exposure and child quality of life was weaker in the context of better family functioning. Results of this study raise concern for the short-and long-term sequelae of the pandemic on the physical and mental health of children. Healthcare providers and researchers must find new and innovative ways to protect the well-being of children. Strengthening family functioning may buffer the effects of the pandemic and improve overall quality of life in our "COVID Kids."en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors declare that this study received funding from a Nationwide Children’s Intramural Grant.en_US
dc.identifier.citationSkeens MA, Hill K, Olsavsky A, Ralph JE, Udaipuria S, Akard TF and Gerhardt CA (2023) Family functioning buffers the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for children’s quality of life and loneliness. Front. Psychol. 13:1079848. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1079848en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1079848
dc.identifier.issn1664-1078
dc.identifier.otherPubMed ID36710839
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1803/18044
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers In Psychologyen_US
dc.rights© 2023 Skeens, Hill, Olsavsky, Ralph, Udaipuria, Akard and Gerhardt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
dc.source.urihttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1079848/full#h10
dc.subjectCOVID-19en_US
dc.subjectpandemicen_US
dc.subjectquality of lifeen_US
dc.subjectlonelinessen_US
dc.subjectfamily functioningen_US
dc.subjectchildrenen_US
dc.titleFamily functioning buffers the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for children's quality of life and lonelinessen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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