Stress, Resilience, and Well-Being in Italian Children and Their Parents during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Maria Cusinato, Sara Iannattone, Andrea Spoto, Mikael Poli, Carlo Moretti, Michela Gatta and Marina Miscioscia
Additional contact information
Maria Cusinato: Pediatric Diabetes Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Padua University Hospital, 35128 Padua, Italy
Sara Iannattone: Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Padua University Hospital, 35128 Padua, Italy
Andrea Spoto: Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
Mikael Poli: Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padua, Italy
Carlo Moretti: Pediatric Diabetes Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Padua University Hospital, 35128 Padua, Italy
Michela Gatta: Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Padua University Hospital, 35128 Padua, Italy
Marina Miscioscia: Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Padua University Hospital, 35128 Padua, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has forced parents and children to adopt significant changes in their daily routine, which has been a big challenge for families, with important implications for family stress. In this study, we aimed to analyze the potential risk and protective factors for parents’ and children’s well-being during a potentially traumatic event such as the COVID-19 quarantine. Specifically, we investigated parents’ and children’s well-being, parental stress, and children’s resilience. The study involved 463 Italian parents of children aged 5–17. All participants completed an online survey consisting of the Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWB) to assess parental well-being, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to measure children’s well-being, the Parent Stress Scale (PSS) to investigate parental stress, and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-R) to measure children’s resilience. The results show that confinement measures and changes in daily routine negatively affect parents’ psychological dimensions, thus exposing children to a significant risk for their well-being. Our results also detect some risk factors for psychological maladjustments, such as parental stress, lower levels of resilience in children, changes in working conditions, and parental psychological, physical, or genetic problems. In this study, we attempted to identify the personal and contextual variables involved in the psychological adjustment to the COVID-19 quarantine to identify families at risk for maladjustment and pave the way for ad hoc intervention programs intended to support them. Our data show promising results for the early detection of the determinants of families’ psychological health. It is important to focus attention on the needs of families and children—including their mental health—to mitigate the health and economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; quarantine; children resilience; children well-being; parenting stress; parents well-being; COVID-19 pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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