Objective

Information about the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent and adult mental health is growing, yet the impacts on preschool children are only emerging. Importantly, environmental factors that augment or protect from the multidimensional and stressful influences of the pandemic on emotional development of young children are poorly understood.

Methods

Depressive symptoms in 169 preschool children (mean age 4.1 years) were assessed with the Preschool Feelings Checklist during a state-wide stay-at-home order in Southern California. Mothers (46% Latinx) also reported on externalizing behaviors with the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire. To assess the role of environmental factors in child mental health we examined household income, food insecurity, parental essential worker status and loss of parental job, as well as preservation of the structure of children's daily experiences with the Family Routines Inventory.

Results

Sixty-one percent of families' incomes were below the living wage and 50% had at least one parent who was an essential worker. Overall, preschoolers’ depressive and externalizing symptoms were elevated compared to pre-COVID norms. Practice of family routines robustly predicted better child mental health, and this protective effect persisted after covarying income, dual-parent status and food insecurity as well as maternal depression and stress.

Conclusion

The stress of the COVID-19 pandemic is exacting a significant toll on the mental health of preschool children. Importantly, maintaining a structured, predicable home environment by adherence to family routines appears to mitigate these adverse effects, providing empiric basis for public health recommendations.

中文翻译：

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在 COVID-19 大流行期间，可预测的家庭环境可以保护儿童的心理健康

客观的

有关 COVID-19 大流行对青少年和成人心理健康的不利影响的信息越来越多，但对学龄前儿童的影响才刚刚出现。重要的是，人们对增强或保护免受流行病对幼儿情绪发展的多维和压力影响的环境因素知之甚少。

方法

在南加州全州范围内的居家令期间，使用学龄前情感检查表评估了 169 名学龄前儿童（平均年龄 4.1 岁）的抑郁症状。母亲们（46% 的拉丁裔）也通过优势与困难问卷报告了外化行为。为了评估环境因素在儿童心理健康中的作用，我们检查了家庭收入、食品不安全、父母的基本工人身份和父母的工作损失，以及使用家庭惯例清单保存儿童日常经历的结构。

结果

61% 的家庭收入低于生活工资，50% 的家庭至少有一位父母是必不可少的工人。总体而言，与 COVID 前的常态相比，学龄前儿童的抑郁和外化症状有所升高。家庭惯例的实践有力地预测了更好的儿童心理健康，这种保护作用在共同改变收入、双亲身份和食物不安全以及母亲抑郁和压力后仍然存在。

结论

COVID-19 大流行的压力正在对学龄前儿童的心理健康造成重大影响。重要的是，通过遵守家庭惯例来维持结构化、可预测的家庭环境似乎可以减轻这些不利影响，为公共卫生建议提供经验基础。