Parents' coping behaviors and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To understand how parents of young children coped with stress during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: Families with young children faced substantial stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, relatively few studies have examined parents' mental health during the pandemic and the behaviors parents have used to cope with their stress. Method: The current study surveyed 199 parents (76% women, M_age = 33 years) of children aged 2 to 4 years from across the United States between September and December 2020 about their COVID-related stress and coping behaviors since stay-at-home orders began in March 2020. Results: The coping behavior that parents most commonly endorsed was spending time with their children, a strategy that frequently made parents feel better. Successful coping (engaging in behaviors that made parents feel better) was positively associated with better mental health, regardless of parents' COVID-related stress. Distraction and unsuccessful coping were not significantly associated with parents' mental health as a main effect. However, parents who engaged in more unsuccessful coping under conditions of high COVID-related stress reported greater symptoms of anxiety and depression. Conclusion: Although the COVID-19 pandemic presented novel stressors for parents, it also presented new opportunities to spend time with family, which may have helped parents cope with the stress of the pandemic. Implications: Young children may be considered an asset in the family system that prompts parents to engage in activities that make them feel better.