Presenter: Su Jin Hwang, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology
Authors: Su Jin Hwang, Bailey Speck, Lee Raby
Faculty Advisor: Lee Raby, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology
Institution: University of Utah
Many individuals have undergone changes in their lives to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: quarantine and social distancing. People with pre-existing depression-related conditions may show higher level of perceived stress, greater distress related to self-isolation, and experience lower quality of sleep during the pandemic relative to the general population. However, studies examining the association between pre-existing depression symptoms and the impact of COVID-19 on parents are limited. We examined the associations between the level of depressive symptoms prior to the pandemic and various outcomes during the pandemic. Specifically we assessed the overall level of stress related to COVID-19, sleep quality, and distress due to their family’s reduced access to positive social interactions due to social isolation among parents who recently adopted a young child. Parents may experience heightened stress due to changes in child care during the pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 54 adoptive parents (95% female) completed an online questionnaire about their depressive symptoms. Several months later, parents completed an additional online survey regarding the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Parents’ ages ranged from 25 to 68 years old (average = 36 years). Adoptive parents who reported higher depressive symptoms prior to COVID-19 pandemic experienced higher overall level of perceived stress related to the pandemic (r = 0.33, p = .02). Parents’ levels of depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with their later sleep quality or level of distress due to social distancing and quarantine during the pandemic. Overall, the results of this study suggest that interventions are needed to reduce the heightened level of distress due to the pandemic among parents who have high pre-existing levels of depressive symptoms. Future research should examine other factors that may be associated with the increased level of stress related to the pandemic among parents.