Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to review and summarize recent research related to the impact of COVID-19 on parent-child and parent-adolescent relationships globally, focused mainly on findings from non-Western countries. The evidence reviewed supports the conclusions that a multitude of factors were involved in the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on children, parents, parent-child relationships, families, and societal functioning overall. While the direct negative impacts were huge, including over 1.3 million children experiencing the loss of a parent or caregiver, the indirect effects (e.g., impact from responses to slow or prevent the spread of the virus) that the pandemic had on the world were also important. The sudden and unexpected loss or decreased access to necessary resources (e.g., children’s peer and school support, access to employment, financial and health resources) and the related stressors wreaked havoc on children and families globally.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andejany, N., Qutah, K., Alwajeeh, S., Msallam, R., Alyamani, D. (2020). Parent-child relationship during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-93850/v1
Arnett, J. J. (1999). Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered. American Psychologist, 54(5), 317.
Asgari, Z., Naghavi, A., & Abedi, M. R. (2022). Beyond a traumatic loss: The experiences of mourning alone after parental death during covid-19 pandemic. Death Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2021.1931984
Bailen, N. H., Green, L. M., & Thompson, R. J. (2019). Understanding emotion in adolescents: A review of emotional frequency, intensity, instability, and clarity. Emotion Review, 11(1), 63–73.
Bate, J., Pham, P. T., & Borelli, J. L. (2021). Be my safe haven: Parent-child relationships and emotional health during COVID-19. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 46(6), 624–634.
Becker, S. P., Sidol, C. A., Van Dyk, T. R., Epstein, J. N., & Beebe, D. W. (2017). Intraindividual variability of sleep/wake patterns in relation to child and adolescent functioning: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 34, 94–121.
Bilal, A., Nawaz, S., & Altaf, S. (2021). Parental relationship with children during covid-19 lockdown in Punjab Pakistan. Journal of University Medical & Dental College, 12(4), 248–251.
Bokszczanin, A. (2008). Parental support, family conflict, and overprotectiveness: Predicting PTSD symptom levels of adolescents 28 months after a natural disaster. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 21(4), 325–335.
Branje, S. (2018). Development of parent–adolescent relationships: Conflict interactions as a mechanism of change. Child Development Perspectives, 12(3), 171–176.
Branje, S., Laursen, B., & Collins, W. A. (2012). Parent-child communication during adolescence. In A. L. Vangelisti (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of family communication (pp. 271–286). Routledge.
Brennan, P. A., Le Brocque, R., & Hammen, C. (2003). Maternal depression, parent–child relationships, and resilient outcomes in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(12), 1469–1477.
Brock, R. L., & Laifer, L. M. (2020). Family science in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: Solutions and new directions. Family Process, 59(3), 1007–1017.
Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912–920.
Brown, S. M., Doom, J. R., Lechuga-Peña, S., Watamura, S. E., & Koppels, T. (2020). Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Child Abuse & Neglect, 110, 104699.
BĂĽlow, A., Keijsers, L., Boele, S., van Roekel, E., & Denissen, J. J. (2021). Parenting adolescents in times of a pandemic: Changes in relationship quality, autonomy support, and parental control. Developmental Psychology, 57(10), 1582.
Buonsenso, D., Roland, D., De Rose, C., Vásquez-Hoyos, P., Ramly, B., Chakakala-Chaziya, J. N., Munro, A., & González-Dambrauskas, S. (2021). Schools closures during the COVID-19 pandemic: A catastrophic global situation. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 40(4), e146–e150.
Campione-Barr, N., Rote, W., Killoren, S. E., & Rose, A. J. (2021). Adolescent adjustment during COVID-19: The role of close relationships and COVID-19-related stress. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(3), 608–622.
Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M., Levita, L., Libby, V., Pattwell, S. S., Ruberry, E. J., et al. (2010). The storm and stress of adolescence: Insights from human imaging and mouse genetics. Developmental Psychobiology: The Journal of the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, 52(3), 225–235.
Catani, C., Jacob, N., Schauer, E., Kohila, M., & Neuner, F. (2008). Family violence, war, and natural disasters: A study of the effect of extreme stress on children's mental health in Sri Lanka. BMC Psychiatry, 8(1), 1–10.
Christie, H., Hamilton-Giachritsis, C., Alves-Costa, F., Tomlinson, M., & Halligan, S. L. (2019). The impact of parental posttraumatic stress disorder on parenting: A systematic review. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1550345.
Chung, G., Lanier, P., & Wong, P. Y. J. (2020). Mediating effects of parental stress on harsh parenting and parent-child relationship during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Singapore. Journal of Family Violence, 1–12.
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2002). A developmental psychopathology perspective on adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70(1), 6.
Cooper, K., Hards, E., Moltrecht, B., Reynolds, S., Shum, A., McElroy, E., & Loades, M. (2021). Loneliness, social relationships, and mental health in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Affective Disorders, 289, 98–104.
De Goede, I. H., Branje, S. J., & Meeus, W. H. (2009). Developmental changes in adolescents’ perceptions of relationships with their parents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(1), 75–88.
Dimitry, L. (2012). A systematic review on the mental health of children and adolescents in areas of armed conflict in the Middle East. Child: Care, Health, and Development, 38(2), 153–161.
Dong, Y., Mo, X., Hu, Y., Qi, X., Jiang, F., Jiang, Z., & Tong, S. (2020). Epidemiology of COVID-19 among children in China. Pediatrics, 145(6).
Donker, M. H., Mastrotheodoros, S., & Branje, S. (2021). Development of parent-adolescent relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of stress and coping. Developmental Psychology, 57(10), 1611.
Eiland, L., & Romeo, R. D. (2013). Stress and the developing adolescent brain. Neuroscience, 249, 162–171.
Fegert, J. M., & Schulze, U. M. (2020). COVID-19 and its impact on child and adolescent psychiatry–a German and personal perspective. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 37(3), 243–245.
Fegert, J. M., Vitiello, B., Plener, P. L., & Clemens, V. (2020). Challenges and burden of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for child and adolescent mental health: A narrative review to highlight clinical and research needs in the acute phase and the long return to normality. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 14(1), 1–11.
Fortuna, L. R., Tolou-Shams, M., Robles-Ramamurthy, B., & Porche, M. V. (2020). Inequity and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color in the United States: The need for a trauma-informed social justice response. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(5), 443–445.
Fussell, E., & Lowe, S. R. (2014). The impact of housing displacement on the mental health of low-income parents after hurricane Katrina. Social Science & Medicine, 113, 137–144.
Gambin, M., WoĹşniak-Prus, M., Sekowski, M., Cudo, A., Pisula, E., Kiepura, E., et al. (2020). Factors related to positive experiences in parent-child relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown. The role of empathy, emotion regulation, parenting self-efficacy, and social support. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/yhtqa
Gray, T. F., Zanville, N., Cohen, B., Cooley, M. E., Starkweather, A., & Linder, L. A. (2022). Finding new ground—Fostering post-traumatic growth in children and adolescents after parental death from COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70(1), 10–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.10.016
Hafstad, G. S., Haavind, H., & Jensen, T. K. (2012). Parenting after a natural disaster: A qualitative study of Norwegian families surviving the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21(2), 293–302.
Hall, G. S. (1904). Adolescence: Its psychology and its relation to physiology, anthropology, sociology, sex, crime, religion, and education. Prentice-Hall.
Hamilton, J. L., Nesi, J., & Choukas-Bradley, S. (2020). Teens and social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: Staying socially connected while physically distant. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5stx4
Hillis, S. D., Unwin, H. J. T., Chen, Y., Cluver, L., Sherr, L., Goldman, P. S., Ratmann, O., Donnelly, C. A., Bhatt, S., Villaveces, A., Butchart, A., Bachman, G., Rawlings, L., Green, P., Nelson, C. A., III, Flaxman, S., & Nelson, C. A., 3rd. (2021). Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers: A modelling study. Lancet, 398(10298), 391–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01253-8
Horiuchi, S., Shinohara, R., Otawa, S., Akiyama, Y., Ooka, T., Kojima, R., et al. (2020). Caregivers’ mental distress and child health during the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. PLoS One, 15(12), e0243702.
Hussong, A. M., Midgette, A. J., Richards, A. N., Petrie, R. C., Coffman, J. L., & Thomas, T. E. (2022). COVID-19 life events spill-over on family functioning and adolescent adjustment. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 42(3), 359–388.
Janssens, J. J., Achterhof, R., Lafit, G., Bamps, E., Hagemann, N., Hiekkaranta, A. P., et al. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on adolescents’ daily lives: The role of parent–child relationship quality. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(3), 623–644.
Jiao, W. Y., Wang, L. N., Liu, J., Fang, S. F., Jiao, F. Y., Pettoello-Mantovani, M., & Somekh, E. (2020). Behavioral and emotional disorders in children during the COVID-19 epidemic. The Journal of Pediatrics, 221, 264–266.
Johnson, J. (2021, September 10). Internet users in the world 2021. Statista. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
Juvonen, J., Lessard, L. M., Kline, N. G., & Graham, S. (2022). Young adult adaptability to the social challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic: The protective role of friendships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51(3), 585–597.
Keijsers, L., Frijns, T., Branje, S. J., & Meeus, W. (2009). Developmental links of adolescent disclosure, parental solicitation, and control with delinquency: Moderation by parental support. Developmental Psychology, 45(5), 1314.
Li, W., Yang, Y., Liu, Z. H., Zhao, Y. J., Zhang, Q., Zhang, L., et al. (2020). Progression of mental health services during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 16(10), 1732.
Lindgaard, C. V., Iglebaek, T., & Jensen, T. K. (2009). Changes in family functioning in the aftermath of a natural disaster: The 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 14(2), 101–116.
Liu, C. H., & Doan, S. N. (2020). Psychosocial stress contagion in children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Pediatrics, 59(9–10), 853–855.
Luthar, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In D. Chicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, disorder, and adaptation (pp. 740–795). Wiley.
Masarik, A. S., & Conger, R. D. (2017). Stress and child development: A review of the family stress model. Current Opinion in Psychology, 13, 85–90.
Masten, A. S., & Motti-Stefanidi, F. (2020). Multisystem resilience for children and youth in disaster: Reflections in the context of COVID-19. Adversity and Resilience Science, 1(2), 95–106.
Mastrotheodoros, S., Van der Graaff, J., Deković, M., Meeus, W. H., & Branje, S. J. (2019). Coming closer in adolescence: Convergence in mother, father, and adolescent reports of parenting. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29(4), 846–862.
McMahon, C. A., & Maxwell, A.M. (2021). Commentary on Guild et al. (2020): The importance of well-designed intervention studies for advancing attachment theory and its clinical applications. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 49(5), 583–589.
Mousavi, S. F. (2020). Psychological well-being, marital satisfaction, and parental burnout in Iranian parents: The effect of home quarantine during COVID-19 outbreaks. Frontiers in Psychology, 3305.
Ni, M. Y., Yang, L., Leung, C. M., Li, N., Yao, X. I., Wang, Y., et al. (2020). Mental health, risk factors, and social media use during the COVID-19 epidemic and cordon sanitaire among the community and health professionals in Wuhan, China: Cross-sectional survey. JMIR Mental Health, 7(5), e19009.
Orgilés, M., Morales, A., Delvecchio, E., Mazzeschi, C., & Espada, J. P. (2020). Immediate psychological effects of the COVID-19 quarantine in youth from Italy and Spain. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2986.
Page, L. A., Seetharaman, S., Suhail, I., Wessely, S., Pereira, J., & Rubin, G. J. (2011). Using electronic patient records to assess the impact of swine flu (influenza H1N1) on mental health patients. Journal of Mental Health, 20(1), 60–69.
Plant, D. T., Jones, F. W., Pariante, C. M., & Pawlby, S. (2017). Association between maternal childhood trauma and offspring childhood psychopathology: Mediation analysis from the ALSPAC cohort. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 211(3), 144–150.
Polizzi, C., Lynn, S. J., & Perry, A. (2020). Stress and coping in the time of COVID-19: Pathways to resilience and recovery. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 17(2), 59.
Prime, H., Wade, M., & Browne, D. T. (2020). Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychologist, 75(5), 631.
Putra, P., Liriwati, F. Y., Tahrim, T., Syafrudin, S., & Aslan, A. (2020). The students learning from home experience during covid-19 school closures policy in Indonesia. Journal Iqra, 5(2).
Rahiem, M. D. (2021). COVID-19 and the surge of child marriages: A phenomenon in Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia. Child Abuse & Neglect, 118, 105168.
Riany, Y. E., & Morawska, A. (2021). Financial and work burden, psychosocial functioning, and family interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: Effects on child outcomes. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1–12.
Riem, M. M., Lodder, P., Guo, J., Vrielink-Verpaalen, M., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & De Carli, P. (2021). Predictive models of maternal harsh parenting during COVID-19 in China, Italy, and Netherlands. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 1526.
Rodriguez-Llanes, J. M., Vos, F., & Guha-Sapir, D. (2013). Measuring psychological resilience to disasters: Are evidence-based indicators an achievable goal? Environmental Health, 12(1), 1–10.
Russell, B. S., Hutchison, M., Tambling, R., Tomkunas, A. J., & Horton, A. L. (2020). Initial challenges of caregiving during COVID-19: Caregiver burden, mental health, and the parent–child relationship. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 51(5), 671–682.
Sharma, M., Idele, P., Manzini, A., Aladro, C. P., Ipince, A., Olsson, G., Banati, P., Anthony, D., & UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti (Italy). (2021). Life in lockdown: Child and adolescent mental health and well-being in the time of COVID-19. In UNICEF. .
Shen, J., Sun, R., Xu, J., Dai, Y., Li, W., Liu, H., & Fang, X. (2021). Patterns and predictors of adolescent life change during the COVID-19 pandemic: A person-centered approach. Current Psychology, 1–15.
Shockley, K. M., Clark, M. A., Dodd, H., & King, E. B. (2021). Work-family strategies during COVID-19: Examining gender dynamics among dual-earner couples with young children. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(1), 15.
Spinelli, M., Lionetti, F., Setti, A., & Fasolo, M. (2021). Parenting stress during the COVID-19 outbreak: Socioeconomic and environmental risk factors and implications for children emotion regulation. Family Process, 60(2), 639–653.
Sprang, G., & Silman, M. (2013). Posttraumatic stress disorder in parents and youth after health-related disasters. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 7(1), 105–110.
Steinberg, L. (1990). Autonomy, conflict, and harmony in the family relationship. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliot (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 255–276). Harvard University Press.
Surtahman, A. W., Mohammad Rohana, N. A., & Raffar, I. N. A. Z. (2021). Parents’ roles in formation of knowledge culture among children during Covid-19 outbreak. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(11), 152–165.
Tadesse, S., & Muluye, W. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on education system in developing countries: A review. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 8(10), 159–170.
Tai, D. B. G., Shah, A., Doubeni, C. A., Sia, I. G., & Wieland, M. L. (2020). The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Tang, S. P., & Azmi, A. (2020). Let us not forget the children of front liners in COVID-19. The Medical Journal of Malaysia, 75(5), 587–587.
Tang, S., Xiang, M., Cheung, T., & Xiang, Y. T. (2021). Mental health and its correlates among children and adolescents during COVID-19 school closure: The importance of parent-child discussion. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 353–360.
Tarsuslu, B., Sahin, A., Durat, G., & Arikan, D. (2021). An analysis of parents’ perceived stress and the parent-child relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, 97–107.
Tiruneh, D. (2020). COVID-19 school closures may further widen the inequality gaps between the advantaged and the disadvantaged in Ethiopia. The Education and Development Form. https://www.ukfiet.org/2020/covid-19-school-closures-may-further-widen-the-inequality-gaps-between-the-advantaged-and-the-disadvantaged-in-ethiopia/
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2020). Averting a lost COVID generation: a six-point plan to respond, recover and reimagine a post-pandemic world for every child. https://www.unicef.org/reports/averting-lost-generation-covid19-world-childrens-day-2020-brief
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2021). Total duration of school closures. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse#schoolclosures
United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNDSG). (2020). Shared responsibility, global solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19. https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/SG-Report-Socio-Economic-Impact-of-Covid19.pdf
Uzun, H., Karaca, N. H., & Metin, Ĺž. (2021). Assessment of parent-child relationship in Covid-19 pandemic. Children and Youth Services Review, 120, 105748.
Vahedi, A., Krug, I., & Westrupp, E. M. (2019). Crossover of parents' work-family conflict to family functioning and child mental health. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 62, 38–49.
Verweij, R., Helmerhorst, K., & Keizer, R. (2021). Work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict and their relation to perceived parenting and the parent-child relationship before and during the first Covid-19 lockdown. Journal of Family Research, 33(3), 734–771.
Waite, P., Patalay, P., Moltrecht, B., McElroy, E., & Creswell, C. (2020). Report 02: Covid-19 worries, parent/career stress, and support needs, by child special educational needs and parent/career work status. Retrieved from https://emergingminds.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Co-SPACE-report-02_03-05-20.pdf
Wang, M. T., Del Toro, J., Scanlon, C. L., Schall, J. D., Zhang, A. L., Belmont, A. M., et al. (2021a). The roles of stress, coping, and parental support in adolescent psychological well-being in the context of COVID-19: A daily-diary study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 294, 245–253.
Wang, M. T., Henry, D. A., Del Toro, J., Scanlon, C. L., & Schall, J. D. (2021b). COVID-19 employment status, dyadic family relationships, and child psychological well-being. Journal of Adolescent Health, 69(5), 705–712.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2022). WHO coronavirus (COVID-19) dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
Xie, X., Xue, Q., Zhou, Y., Zhu, K., Liu, Q., Zhang, J., & Song, R. (2020). Mental health status among children in home confinement during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in Hubei Province, China. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(9), 898–900.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Murphy, A.L., Bush, K.R., Jurasek, J.E. (2022). Parent-Child/Adolescent Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Selin, H. (eds) Parenting Across Cultures. Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15359-4_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15359-4_24
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-15358-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-15359-4
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)