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Sprengeler MK, Mattheß J, Galeris MG, Eckert M, Koch G, Reinhold T, Berghöfer A, Fricke J, Roll S, Keil T, Ludwig-Körner C, Kuchinke L, von Klitzing K, White LO, Schlensog-Schuster F. Being an Infant in a Pandemic: Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Infants, Toddlers and Their Mothers in a Clinical Population. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1885. [PMID: 38136087 PMCID: PMC10742006 DOI: 10.3390/children10121885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdowns might have had a strong impact on mental health of mothers and their infants/toddlers. For example, families had to deal with health issues and social isolation, which might have affected mental health and parent-child interactions. The aim of this study is to evaluate differences in (1) infantile regulatory disorders, (2) maternal mental health, (3) the impact of maternal mental health on infantile regulatory disorders, and (4) alterations in the mother-child interaction for participants recruited before versus after the onset of the first German lockdown. For this reason, mother-child dyads have been divided into two groups and were compared by analyzing clinical interviews on psychopathology of mother and child (M.I.N.I. & DC:05) and mother-child-interactions (Emotional Availability Scales). Results showed that (1) differences in infantile sleeping disorders emerged (phi = 0.243; p = 0.016) compared to the pre-lockdown group, while (2) the occurrence of maternal panic and anxiety increased in the post-lockdown group (phi = 0.229; p = 0.022). Moreover, there was (3) an association for maternal panic and child's sleep disorder, and (4) specific associations with maternal non-hostility in the mother-child-interaction. In conclusion, the present study highlights the differences of maternal mental health occurrences and infants' regulatory problems, as well as the possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for infants. In the pre-lockdown group, maternal non-hostility might have acted as a promotive factor against regulatory disorders, while this mechanism was mitigated in the post-lockdown group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mona Katharina Sprengeler
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (M.K.S.); (M.-G.G.); (K.v.K.); (L.O.W.); (F.S.-S.)
| | - Janna Mattheß
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (M.K.S.); (M.-G.G.); (K.v.K.); (L.O.W.); (F.S.-S.)
- International Psychoanalytic University, 10555 Berlin, Germany; (M.E.); (G.K.); (C.L.-K.); (L.K.)
| | - Mirijam-Griseldis Galeris
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (M.K.S.); (M.-G.G.); (K.v.K.); (L.O.W.); (F.S.-S.)
| | - Melanie Eckert
- International Psychoanalytic University, 10555 Berlin, Germany; (M.E.); (G.K.); (C.L.-K.); (L.K.)
| | - Gabriele Koch
- International Psychoanalytic University, 10555 Berlin, Germany; (M.E.); (G.K.); (C.L.-K.); (L.K.)
| | - Thomas Reinhold
- Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (T.R.); (J.F.); (S.R.); (T.K.)
| | - Anne Berghöfer
- Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (T.R.); (J.F.); (S.R.); (T.K.)
| | - Julia Fricke
- Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (T.R.); (J.F.); (S.R.); (T.K.)
| | - Stephanie Roll
- Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (T.R.); (J.F.); (S.R.); (T.K.)
| | - Thomas Keil
- Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; (T.R.); (J.F.); (S.R.); (T.K.)
- Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Wuerzburg, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany
- State Institute of Health, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, 97688 Bad Kissingen, Germany
| | - Christiane Ludwig-Körner
- International Psychoanalytic University, 10555 Berlin, Germany; (M.E.); (G.K.); (C.L.-K.); (L.K.)
| | - Lars Kuchinke
- International Psychoanalytic University, 10555 Berlin, Germany; (M.E.); (G.K.); (C.L.-K.); (L.K.)
| | - Kai von Klitzing
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (M.K.S.); (M.-G.G.); (K.v.K.); (L.O.W.); (F.S.-S.)
| | - Lars Otto White
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (M.K.S.); (M.-G.G.); (K.v.K.); (L.O.W.); (F.S.-S.)
| | - Franziska Schlensog-Schuster
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; (M.K.S.); (M.-G.G.); (K.v.K.); (L.O.W.); (F.S.-S.)
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, 3000 Bern, Switzerland
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Dungan M, Lincoln M, Aichele S, Clark ELM, Harvey A, Hoyer L, Jiao Y, Joslin S, Russell F, Biringen Z. Mother-Child and Father-Child Emotional Availability during the COVID-19 Pandemic. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1044. [PMID: 37371275 DOI: 10.3390/children10061044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
While the body of literature on COVID-19's impacts on family life is rapidly expanding, most studies are based entirely on self-report data, leaving a critical gap in observational studies of parent-child interactions. The goal of this study was to evaluate parent-child relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic using the observational emotional availability (EA) construct. Parents (n = 43) were assessed using the Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory (EPII), the Flourishing Scale (FLS), and the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) questionnaires. The subcategories of the EPII were used to develop an EPII negative and an EPII positive for each parent. EA (sensitivity, structuring, nonhostility, nonintrusiveness, child responsiveness, and child involvement) was coded from filmed parent-child interactions. Separate hierarchical multiple regressions (HMRs) were run to evaluate each of the variables of interest (EPII and FLS) as predictive of EA. Child age (M = 6, SD = 4.68) and ACEs were added in subsequent steps for EPII negative and positive if the initial step was significant. For mothers (n = 25), results demonstrated EPII negative as a significant predictor of EA with child age and ACEs adding only small amount of variance to the prediction. The same HMR process was repeated for flourishing, with the covariate child age alone. For fathers (n = 18), flourishing was a significant predictor of EA and child age added only a small amount of variance to the prediction. Results indicate that experiencing high COVID-19-related stressors is associated with lower EA for mothers, but not fathers. Having high levels of flourishing during the pandemic was predictive of higher EA for fathers, but not mothers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maggie Dungan
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Michael Lincoln
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Stephen Aichele
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Emma L M Clark
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Ashley Harvey
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Lillian Hoyer
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Yuqin Jiao
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Steffany Joslin
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Frances Russell
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
| | - Zeynep Biringen
- Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80528, USA
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