48 - Mothers' Perceived Impacts of COVID-19-Related School Disruptions on Kindergartners' Social Development, Behavior, and Mental Health

Poster Number: 48
Publication Number: 48.203

Khara L. Turnbull, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Brianna Jaworski, University of Virginia School of Education & Human Development, Spotsylvania, VA, United States; Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Deiby Mayaris Cubides Mateus, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Frances Coolman, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States; Rachel Y. Moon, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Fern R. Hauck, UVA, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Ann Kellams, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, United States; Eve R. Colson, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States

Background: There is concern that COVID-19-related schooling disruptions have imposed disproportionately greater risk for social, behavioral, and mental health challenges on children from low-income backgrounds. There is a need for research to better understand the impacts of the pandemic on school children.

Objective: To understand low-income mothers’ perceptions of positive and negative impacts of COVID-19-related schooling disruptions on their kindergarten-age children’s social development, behavior, and mental health.

Design/Methods: We conducted 22 in-depth, semi-structured interviews of mothers of kindergarten-age children from low-income families. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a grounded-theory approach. Each transcript was reviewed by at least 4 research team members. Interviewers posed open-ended questions prompting mothers to describe perceived impacts of COVID-19-related schooling disruptions on their child’s social development (e.g., relationships), behavior, and mental health. We used an iterative process to identify and confirm themes emerging from the interview data.

Results: Participant characteristics appear in Table 1. We identified three main themes reflecting maternal perceptions of impacts on children’s social development, behavior, and mental health (See Table 2 for themes and illustrative quotes). For social development, many mothers described negative impacts, including diminished opportunities to create or maintain friendships, and decrements in social skills. Some described positive impacts, including strengthened family relationships. For behavior, mothers reported perceived negative impacts on engagement in school activities, obedience at home and school, and some reported heightened aggressive behaviors. For mental health, mothers overwhelmingly described perceived negative impacts on mood, emotional reactivity, frustration tolerance, and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. No mothers reported perceived positive impacts on their child’s mental health or behavior.Conclusion(s): When asked about positive and negative impacts COVID-19 pandemic school disruptions had on the social development, behavior, and mental health of their kindergarten-aged children, low-income mothers primarily described negative effects across all three domains. A greater understanding of mothers’ perceptions of such impacts is useful for identifying targets for both near-term and long-term policy or interventions for mitigating impacts of continuing and future schooling disruptions.
Table 1.Participant Demographic Information
Table 2.Summary of Thematic Analysis with Illustrative Quotations