The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to many lifestyle changes and economic hardships for families with young children. Previous research on risk and resilience highlights that children’s adjustment to family hardships is influenced by caregiver stress, but individual child behaviors and characteristics may protect children from negative outcomes. Interestingly, many children have been reported to incorporate COVID-19 themes in their pretend play. Theory suggests children may do so to cope with pandemic-related stress, but no empirical studies have explored this possibility. The purpose of this study was to understand the process by which COVID-19 economic hardships experienced by a family are related to children’s emotional well-being and development and to investigate how this process may vary as a function of children’s engagement in pandemic-related pretend play. Caregivers (N = 99; mostly high earning families) of preschoolers ages 3-6 years (51% girls, 82% White) living in the United States participated in an online survey at two time points during the pandemic. Result revealed that COVID-19 economic hardships were related to increased caregiver stress, which, in turn, was associated with children’s emotional distress and poorer self-regulation. However, engaging in pandemic-related pretend play appeared to protect children’s well-being by weakening the adverse association between caregivers’ stress and children’s emotional distress. Thus, addressing caregiver stress levels and allowing children an outlet to cope with challenges through pretend play could have crucial protective effects on early development and well-being during times of crisis.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 期间的儿童调整：经济困难、照顾者压力和流行病游戏的作用


2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 给有幼儿的家庭带来了许多生活方式的改变和经济困难。先前关于风险和复原力的研究强调，儿童对家庭困难的适应受到照顾者压力的影响，但儿童个体的行为和特征可能会保护儿童免受负面结果的影响。有趣的是，据报道，许多孩子在他们的假装游戏中融入了 COVID-19 主题。理论表明，儿童这样做可能是为了应对与流行病相关的压力，但还没有实证研究探讨过这种可能性。本研究的目的是了解家庭经历的 COVID-19 经济困难与儿童的情绪健康和发展之间的关系，并调查这一过程如何随着儿童参与与流行病相关的假装活动而变化。玩。居住在美国的 3-6 岁学龄前儿童（51% 为女孩，82% 为白人）的看护者（N = 99；主要是高收入家庭）在疫情期间的两个时间点参与了一项在线调查。结果显示，COVID-19 经济困难与照顾者压力增加有关，而照顾者压力又与儿童的情绪困扰和自我调节能力较差有关。然而，参与与流行病相关的假装游戏似乎可以通过削弱看护者的压力与儿童情绪困扰之间的不利关联来保护儿童的福祉。因此，解决看护者的压力水平并让儿童通过假装游戏应对挑战可能会对危机时期的早期发展和福祉产生至关重要的保护作用。