Nearly two years after the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in the United States, newly published research from a Daemen professor highlights how families have been affected during the pandemic.
Jack Peltz
Jack Peltz, assistant professor of psychology at the college, served as first author on the paper “Shocks to the system: The influence of COVID-19–related stressors on co-parental and family functioning,” published in the prestigious journal Developmental Psychology.
The findings present one of the first examinations of the links between COVID-19-related stressors and the family unit.
Reverberation
The study tracked how new stressors introduced by COVID-19 – including health-related concerns, new demands placed on families by lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, and the possibility of losing a job or inability to pay bills – disrupted parenting and basic family functioning.
The study saw that stressors that affect only one parent reverberate throughout a family, indicating a high degree of interdependence.
“Stress transmits in a family,” said Peltz. “And the pandemic has registered in different ways over time. So, even as families quickly transition to new patterns of living, many of the stressors of the pandemic are still there, just in new ways.”
He added, “When parents are not getting along well together, that has an effect on the children more than how one parent is interacting with the child.”
A unique moment in history
The study focused on “co-parenting,” which looks at how well parents work together, collaborate and are effective as a team rather than individuals.
The research also considered “family cohesion,” which is the degree to which families function well, feel supported by one another, and are providing an open and clear communication with each other.
“Measuring cohesion is like taking the temperature, in a sense,” he said. “It’s the basis for stronger family functioning.”
Researchers began surveying and interviewing parents as soon as the pandemic started in the U.S. Documenting its effects on families during a unique moment in history helps provide data to back up what otherwise may have been assumed, said Peltz.
“These data are hard to come by, and following families on a week-to-week basis is difficult to do,” said Peltz.
The University of Rochester’s Dev Crasta, Jennifer S. Daks and Ronald D. Rogge co-authored the paper.
“This was a unique time to document the strain of a pandemic on people. I think it’s important because this may not be the last pandemic,” he added. “We need to keep a record of its effects and be prepared for what stressors could be ahead.”
Even with the availability of vaccines, the pandemic will “continue to impact families as long as social distancing protocols remain in place, fears of contracting the virus remain present, and financial and job-related problems are not resolved,” researchers concluded.
“Bringing light to the role of the pandemic on family functioning will hopefully provide more resources and attention to supporting parents and caregivers and ultimately restoring healthy patterns of interaction within families,” they added.