Influence of Maternal Cognitions on Child Mental Health and Educational Experiences at Home During COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Suboptimal parenting characterized by low self-efficacy and perceived impact is associated with poor child mental health and academic outcomes, especially for at-risk families. This study capitalized on a longitudinal study conducted prior to and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to test how prior parenting cognitions and environmental risk factors predict mental health and educational challenges faced by children during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic parenting and environmental risk data are available for a sample of 252 low-income mother-child dyads in Toronto, Canada. Research Findings: Mothers who had lower parental self-efficacy, but higher perceived parental impact prior to COVID-19 reported that their children faced educational challenges during the pandemic. In addition, mothers who reported lower levels of pre-pandemic parental self-efficacy reported that their children were more likely to have emotional and conduct problems greater than the sample average during COVID-19. Practice or Policy: Parents with specific profiles of parenting cognitions may need additional support to help their children cope during the pandemic.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the valued contributions of Nadina Mahadeo-Villacis, Sumayya Saleem, and Zhangjing Luo. We would also like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the City of Toronto. Finally, we are very grateful to all the mothers and children who participated in this project.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author Contributions

CJ, SB, JJ, MP; Data Curation: CJ; Formal Analysis: CJ, SB; Funding: MP, JJ; Investigation: CJ, SB; Methodology: CJ, SB, JJ, MP; Project Admin: MP; Resources: MP; Software: CJ, SB; Supervision: MP, JJ; Visualization: CJ; Writing (Original Draft Preparation): CJ, SB; Writing (Review and Editing): CJ, SB, JJ, MP.

Additional information

Funding

Project was funded by the City of Toronto, Children’s Services.