TY - JOUR
T1 - Parental Perspectives on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Infant, Child, and Adolescent Development
AU - Raffa, Brittany J.
AU - Heerman, William J.
AU - Lampkin, Jacarra
AU - Perrin, Eliana M.
AU - Flower, Kori B.
AU - Delamater, Alan M.
AU - Yin, H. Shonna
AU - Rothman, Russell L.
AU - Sanders, Lee
AU - Schilling, Samantha
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) [contract number AD-2018C1-11238] and specifically through COVID-supplemental funding. Study data were collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools hosted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences/National Institutes of Health, grant number: 5UL1TR002243.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/4/1
Y1 - 2023/4/1
N2 - Objective:The purpose of this study is to understand how families from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds perceived the impact of the pandemic on the development of their children.Methods:We used a multimethod approach guided by Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, which identifies 5 developmental systems (micro, meso, exo, macro, and chrono). Semistructured interviews were conducted in English or Spanish with parents living in 5 geographic regions of the United States between July and September 2021. Participants also completed the COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Survey.Results:Forty-eight families participated, half of whose preferred language was Spanish, with a total of 99 children ages newborn to 19 years. Most qualitative themes pertained to developmental effects of the microsystem and macrosystem. Although many families described negative effects of the pandemic on development, others described positive or no perceived effects. Some families reported inadequate government support in response to the pandemic as causes of stress and potential negative influences on child development. As context for their infant's development, families reported a variety of economic hardships on the COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Survey, such as having to move out of their homes and experiencing decreased income.Conclusion:In addition to negative impacts, many parents perceived positive pandemic-attributed effects on their child's development, mainly from increased time for parent-child interaction. Families described economic hardships that were exacerbated by the pandemic and that potentially affect child development and insufficient government responses to these hardships. These findings hold important lessons for leaders who wish to design innovative solutions that address inequities in maternal, family, and child health.
AB - Objective:The purpose of this study is to understand how families from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds perceived the impact of the pandemic on the development of their children.Methods:We used a multimethod approach guided by Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, which identifies 5 developmental systems (micro, meso, exo, macro, and chrono). Semistructured interviews were conducted in English or Spanish with parents living in 5 geographic regions of the United States between July and September 2021. Participants also completed the COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Survey.Results:Forty-eight families participated, half of whose preferred language was Spanish, with a total of 99 children ages newborn to 19 years. Most qualitative themes pertained to developmental effects of the microsystem and macrosystem. Although many families described negative effects of the pandemic on development, others described positive or no perceived effects. Some families reported inadequate government support in response to the pandemic as causes of stress and potential negative influences on child development. As context for their infant's development, families reported a variety of economic hardships on the COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Survey, such as having to move out of their homes and experiencing decreased income.Conclusion:In addition to negative impacts, many parents perceived positive pandemic-attributed effects on their child's development, mainly from increased time for parent-child interaction. Families described economic hardships that were exacerbated by the pandemic and that potentially affect child development and insufficient government responses to these hardships. These findings hold important lessons for leaders who wish to design innovative solutions that address inequities in maternal, family, and child health.
KW - COVID-19
KW - diverse sociodemographic backgrounds
KW - infant and child development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151168074&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85151168074&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001166
DO - 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001166
M3 - Article
C2 - 36716765
AN - SCOPUS:85151168074
SN - 0196-206X
VL - 44
SP - E204-E211
JO - Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
JF - Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
IS - 3
ER -