Grandparent kinship caregivers may experience increased parenting stress and mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. It may lead to risky parenting behaviors, such as psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful behaviors towards their grandchildren. This study aims to examine (1) the relationships between parenting stress, mental health, and grandparent kinship caregivers’ risky parenting practices, such as psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful behaviors towards their grandchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) whether grandparent kinship caregivers’ mental health is a potential mediator between parenting stress and caregivers’ psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful behaviors. A cross-sectional survey among grandparent kinship caregivers (N = 362) was conducted in June 2020 in the United States. Descriptive analyses, negative binomial regression analyses, and mediation analyses were conducted using STATA 15.0. We found that (1) grandparent kinship caregivers’ high parenting stress and low mental health were associated with more psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful parenting behaviors during COVID-19; and (2) grandparent kinship caregivers’ mental health partially mediated the relationships between parenting stress and their psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and neglectful behaviors. Results suggest that decreasing grandparent kinship caregivers’ parenting stress and improving their mental health are important for reducing child maltreatment risk during COVID-19.

在 COVID-19 大流行期间，祖父母亲属照顾者可能会经历更多的育儿压力和精神困扰。它可能导致冒险的育儿行为，例如心理攻击、体罚和对孙子的忽视行为。本研究旨在检验 (1) 在 COVID-19 大流行期间，养育压力、心理健康和祖父母亲属照顾者的风险养育行为之间的关系，例如心理攻击、体罚和对孙辈的疏忽行为，以及 (2 ) 祖父母亲属照顾者的心理健康是否是育儿压力与照顾者心理攻击、体罚和疏忽行为之间的潜在中介。祖父母亲属照料者横断面调查（N = 362) 于 2020 年 6 月在美国进行。使用 STATA 15.0 进行描述性分析、负二项式回归分析和中介分析。我们发现 (1) 祖父母亲属照顾者的高育儿压力和低心理健康与 COVID-19 期间更多的心理攻击、体罚和忽视育儿行为有关；(2)祖父母亲属照料者的心理健康在养育压力与其心理攻击、体罚、疏忽行为之间起部分中介作用。结果表明，减少祖父母亲属照顾者的养育压力和改善他们的心理健康对于降低 COVID-19 期间虐待儿童的风险很重要。