Dr. Michal Perlman

Professor, University of Toronto and Director, Dr. R.G.N. Laidlaw Research Centre, University of Toronto

Curriculum vitae

416-978-0596

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)

University of Toronto

252 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1V6

Heterogeneity in maternal and child mental health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Journal article

Sumayya Saleem, Samantha Burns, Olesya Falenchuk, Petr Varmuza, Michal Perlman
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, vol. 59, Elsevier {BV}, 2022, pp. 203--214

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.12.004

Cite

APA Click to copy
Saleem, S., Burns, S., Falenchuk, O., Varmuza, P., & Perlman, M. (2022). Heterogeneity in maternal and child mental health responses to the {COVID}-19 pandemic. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 59, 203–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.12.004

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Saleem, Sumayya, Samantha Burns, Olesya Falenchuk, Petr Varmuza, and Michal Perlman. “Heterogeneity in Maternal and Child Mental Health Responses to the {COVID}-19 Pandemic.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 59 (2022): 203–214.

MLA Click to copy
Saleem, Sumayya, et al. “Heterogeneity in Maternal and Child Mental Health Responses to the {COVID}-19 Pandemic.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly, vol. 59, Elsevier {BV}, 2022, pp. 203–14, doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.12.004.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{saleem2022a,
  title = {Heterogeneity in maternal and child mental health responses to the {COVID}-19 pandemic},
  year = {2022},
  journal = {Early Childhood Research Quarterly},
  pages = {203--214},
  publisher = {Elsevier {BV}},
  volume = {59},
  doi = {10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.12.004},
  author = {Saleem, Sumayya and Burns, Samantha and Falenchuk, Olesya and Varmuza, Petr and Perlman, Michal}
}

Abstract

We used latent profile analysis on a longitudinal dataset to examine changes in maternal and child mental health during COVID-19 and factors that may protect against declines in mental health. Participants were 183 low-income mothers (M = 36 years) with young children (M = 5.31 years) in the City of Toronto with data collected prior to and during the pandemic in 2020. Mothers reported on their own stress, anxiety and depression and their children's emotional, conduct, hyperactivity, peer, and prosocial problems at both timepoints. We found heterogeneity in mental health changes, with 5 distinct patterns of change for mothers, and 4 distinct patterns of change for children during COVID-19. The majority (83%) of mothers experienced significant declines in at least one aspect of mental health. In contrast, the majority of children (65%) experienced either no change or improvements in mental health. Interestingly, patterns of change across these groups were not differentiated by demographic characteristics such as income, education, and family composition. However, for mothers, a higher degree of satisfaction with social support was associated with membership in a profile with better mental health both prior to, and during the pandemic. For children, having a stable history of early childhood education, and care was associated with membership in a profile that showed improvements in mental health during the pandemic. We discuss how our results support the need for proactive and global interventions for at-risk families with raised mental health concerns, and the benefits that stable early childhood education and care may provide for young children.

Key words: COVID-19, maternal and child mental health; social support; childcare instability; latent profile analysis