TY - JOUR
T1 - Parent and child mental health trajectories April 2020 to May 2021: Strict lockdown versus no lockdown in Australia
AU - Westrupp, Elizabeth M
AU - Greenwood, Christopher J
AU - Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Matthew
AU - Olsson, Craig A
AU - Sciberras, Emma
AU - Mikocka-Walus, Antonina
AU - Melvin, Glenn A
AU - Evans, Subhadra
AU - Stokes, Mark A
AU - Wood, Amanda G
AU - Karantzas, Gery C
AU - Macdonald, Jacqui A
AU - Toumbourou, John W
AU - Teague, Samantha J
AU - Fernando, Julian W
AU - Berkowitz, Tomer S
AU - Ling, Mathew
AU - Youssef, George J
PY - 2022/11/1
Y1 - 2022/11/1
N2 - Objective: To control a second-wave COVID-19 outbreak, the state of Victoria in Australia experienced one of the world’s first long and strict lockdowns over July–October 2020, while the rest of Australia experienced ‘COVID-normal’ with minimal restrictions. We (1) investigate trajectories of parent/child mental health outcomes in Victoria vs non-Victoria and (2) identify baseline demographic, individual and COVID-19-related factors associated with mental health trajectories. Methods: Online community sample of 2004 Australian parents with rapid repeated assessment over 14 time-points over April 2020 to May 2021. Measures assessed parent mental health (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21), child depression symptoms (13-item Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) and child anxiety symptoms (four items from Brief Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale). Results: Mental health trajectories shadowed COVID-19 infection rates. Victorians reported a peak in mental health symptoms at the time of the second-wave lockdown compared to other states. Key baseline predictors, including parent and child loneliness (standardized regression coefficient [β] = 0.09–0.46), parent/child diagnoses (β = 0.07–0.21), couple conflict (β = 0.07–0.18) and COVID-19 stressors, such as worry/concern about COVID-19, illness and loss of job (β = 0.12–0.15), predicted elevated trajectories. Effects of predictors on parent and child mental health trajectories are illustrated in an online interactive app for readers ( https://lingtax.shinyapps.io/CPAS_trend/ ). Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence of worse trajectories of parent and child mental health symptoms at a time coinciding with a second COVID-19 outbreak involving strict lockdown in Victoria, compared to non-locked states in Australia. We identified several baseline factors that may be useful in detecting high-risk families who are likely to require additional support early on in future lockdowns.
AB - Objective: To control a second-wave COVID-19 outbreak, the state of Victoria in Australia experienced one of the world’s first long and strict lockdowns over July–October 2020, while the rest of Australia experienced ‘COVID-normal’ with minimal restrictions. We (1) investigate trajectories of parent/child mental health outcomes in Victoria vs non-Victoria and (2) identify baseline demographic, individual and COVID-19-related factors associated with mental health trajectories. Methods: Online community sample of 2004 Australian parents with rapid repeated assessment over 14 time-points over April 2020 to May 2021. Measures assessed parent mental health (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21), child depression symptoms (13-item Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) and child anxiety symptoms (four items from Brief Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale). Results: Mental health trajectories shadowed COVID-19 infection rates. Victorians reported a peak in mental health symptoms at the time of the second-wave lockdown compared to other states. Key baseline predictors, including parent and child loneliness (standardized regression coefficient [β] = 0.09–0.46), parent/child diagnoses (β = 0.07–0.21), couple conflict (β = 0.07–0.18) and COVID-19 stressors, such as worry/concern about COVID-19, illness and loss of job (β = 0.12–0.15), predicted elevated trajectories. Effects of predictors on parent and child mental health trajectories are illustrated in an online interactive app for readers ( https://lingtax.shinyapps.io/CPAS_trend/ ). Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence of worse trajectories of parent and child mental health symptoms at a time coinciding with a second COVID-19 outbreak involving strict lockdown in Victoria, compared to non-locked states in Australia. We identified several baseline factors that may be useful in detecting high-risk families who are likely to require additional support early on in future lockdowns.
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - child mental health
KW - couple conflict
KW - mental health
KW - parenting
UR - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00048674211065365
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122133662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/00048674211065365
DO - 10.1177/00048674211065365
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-8674
VL - 56
SP - 1491
EP - 1502
JO - Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
JF - Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
IS - 11
ER -