The negative association of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with the health of mother and child considering maternal childhood maltreatment

BACKGROUND

Social distancing strategies during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have left families facing a variety of different constraints. Especially in this stressful time, children need a stable parental home to prevent developmental consequences. Additional risk factors such as maternal childhood maltreatment (CM) may affect mother's psychosomatic health and children's physical well-being in this period.

OBJECTIVE

It was aimed to analyze the associations between maternal CM, mother's mental health, and children's physical complaints during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic.

METHOD

Mothers of a well-documented birth cohort from a longitudinal study were included in this study. Psychosomatic health was assessed with the PHQ-D and children's physical health with the GBB-KJ during the pandemic. N = 159 mothers completed the online survey. To describe the maternal CM, data from a longitudinal survey were used.

RESULTS

The calculation of three mediation analyses demonstrate that maternal depression symptoms (c-path: β = 0.10, p = .02; c'-path: β = 0.07, p = .13), somatic symptoms (c-path: β = 0.10, p = .02; c'-path: β = 0.07, p = .13) and psychosomatic symptoms (c-path: β = 0.10, p = .02; c'-path: β = 0.06, p = .19) fully mediate the relationship between CM and children's physical health complaints.

CONCLUSIONS

Maternal CM experiences seem to be one relevant risk factor during the pandemic and seem to influence the way in which parents deal with stressful situations and increase the risk for depressive symptoms. The present results highlight the importance to provide individually adjusted assistance to help the families to get through the pandemic.

Favorable Adaptation during SARS-CoV-2-Pandemic as Told by Student-Athletes-A Longitudinal and Behavioral Study

(1) Background: The aim was to explore the impact of adaptive responses (resilience factors) on student-athletes' behaviors during a stressful period of life during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic of 2020 and 2021. (2) Methods: A constructivist-based grounded theory (CGT) was used guided by a biopsychosocial approach. Based on purposeful sampling, 22 male and female student-athletes were divided into four focus group interviews (FGI) seven months after the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic (October 2020) and 18 of these were followed up by FGI seven months later (May 2021). The mean age was 17.65 and they represented golf and handball. (3) Results: The CGT contained four main categories seven months after the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic outbreak: Social support, Self-discipline, Physical practice and recovery and Management of everyday life. Fourteen months after the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic outbreak, four additional main categories emerged: More extensive social support, Belief in the future, Self-awareness and Responsibility and problem-solving. (4) Conclusions: The CTG suggests that student-athletes' favorable adaptations to the stressful SARS-CoV-2-pandemic period 2020-2021 are based on a gradually developed ability to take responsibility for one's own actions, insight into the importance of deepened social interaction, belief in a positive post-COVID future and increased awareness of physical activity and its relation to perceived health.

Maternal attachment representation, the risk of increased depressive symptoms and the influence on children's mental health during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic

The social distancing measures and the related closure of education institutions have confronted young families, in particular, with various challenges. Additional risk factors such as an insecure or even unresolved maternal attachment representation may affect mental health of mothers and their children in times of increased stress such as during the ongoing pandemic. We aimed to analyze the interplay between maternal attachment representation and mother's and children's mental health before and during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic. 91 mothers completed a "SARS-CoV-2 pandemic survey" examining the pandemic-related stress of their families including their own depressive symptomology and their children's mental health. Our mediation analysis demonstrates that the mothers' depressive symptomology significantly and fully mediated the relationship between maternal attachment representations and children's mental health during the pandemic. In contrast, the indirect effect of the maternal attachment representation on children's mental health before the pandemic through the depressive symptoms experienced by the mothers before the pandemic did not reach significance alongside the total and direct effect. The quality of the maternal attachment representation, promoted by childhood maltreatment, seems to be one relevant risk factor for the mothers' and children's mental health during a stressful time like a pandemic. The risk for mothers to develop depressive symptoms in times of a pandemic is significantly influenced by their current representation of previous attachment experiences. In addition, the mental well-being of mothers showed a considerable influence on the children's mental health during a pandemic. The results underline the necessity to consider unique needs of family members and to offer specific support in the current crisis focusing on attachment issues.

The interplay between maternal childhood maltreatment, parental coping strategies as well as endangered parenting behavior during the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

The SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is associated different challenges, especially for families. The disruption and challenges require parents to develop strategies to cope with the current situation. One factor that may influence how parents deal with pandemic-associated stressors are experiences of parental childhood maltreatment (CM), which represent a high risk of engaging in endangered parenting. A decisive candidate for the connection between parental CM and the transgenerational transmission could be the parental ability to employ coping strategies. Mothers of a well-documented birth cohort for investigating the pathways leading to resilience or vulnerability in the transgenerational transmission of CM were imbedded in an online “SARS-CoV-2 pandemic survey” assessing maternal ability for coping strategies and the dimension of endangered maternal parenting behavior. 91 mothers completed the online survey. To describe the maternal CM, data from a longitudinal survey were used. Our mediation analysis shows a significant positive relationship between the sum of maternal CM experiences, lack of coping strategies and endangered parenting behavior. This suggests a partial mediation of the association between CM and endangered parenting behavior as the direct effect remained significant when the maternal lack of coping strategies was included as the mediator. Parental CM is a risk factor for coping with stressful situation as well as for endangered parenting behavior. The ability to deal with stress seems to have a significant influence on the context of a possible transgenerational transmission of CM. The results underline the need to consider the unique needs of families with children and to support them as to how to overcome the current crisis.

Reduced requests for medical rehabilitation due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a difference-in-differences analysis

Objective

To examine the extent to which medical rehabilitation requests decreased because of the pandemic in Germany.

Design

Data were retrieved from the German Pension Insurance, which is the main provider for rehabilitation of working-age people in Germany. Our data represented all medical rehabilitation requests in 2019 and 2020. These requests have to be approved to use a rehabilitation program. We used a difference-in-differences model to determine the reduction in rehabilitation requests attributable to the pandemic.

Setting

General community.

Participants

We included 1,621,840 rehabilitation requests from working-age people across Germany in 2019 and 1,391,642 rehabilitation requests in 2020 (N=3,013,482).

Intervention

Medical rehabilitation in inpatient or outpatient facilities.

Main Outcome Measures

Number of medical rehabilitation requests.

Results

The number of medical rehabilitation requests decreased by 14.5% because of the pandemic (incidence rate ratio, 0.855; 95% confidence interval, 0.851-0.859). The decline in requests was more pronounced among women and in Western Germany than among men and in Eastern Germany. The reduction in requests affected non-postacute rehabilitations more clearly than postacute rehabilitation services. After the pandemic declaration by the German Bundestag in March 2020, the reduction in requests was initially strongly associated with the regional incidence of infection. This association weakened in the following months.

Conclusions

The reduction in requests will have a significant effect on the number of completed rehabilitation services. For many people with chronic diseases, failure to provide medical rehabilitation increases the risk of disease progression.

Mothers' daily perceived stress influences their children's mental health during SARS-CoV-2-pandemic-an online survey

BACKGROUND

The current situation caused by the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is associated with serious losses for everyone and has been affecting social life, politics, the economy and the media worldwide. Preventive isolation and social distancing strategies have confronted families with a large number of different challenges. The current epidemic and quarantine restrictions have a verifiable influence on the emotional and social development of children and adolescents. During this ongoing situation children of parents, who already were mentally stressed, seem particularly at risk.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to assess the role of maternal daily perceived stress on children's mental health during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic.

METHODS

An online "SARS-CoV-2-pandemic survey" was developed to assess children's mental health since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. To describe maternal perceived everyday stress, data from a longitudinal survey was utilized. Our survey includes elements and versions of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale. We furthermore collected socio-demographic data. Due to our limited dependent variables we applied Tobit models for estimation.

RESULTS

We found a positive and significant effect of the maternal perceived everyday stress on children's emotional problems during the pandemic. Furthermore, results provide empirical evidence for an increase of the children's hyperactivity level dependent on the mother's perceived stress before the SARS-COV-2 crisis. We could not find significant effects for the relationship between mother's perceived everyday stress and the children's behavioral problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Analyses illustrate the effects on children's mental distress during everyday life in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Future research needs to identify influencing factors with regard to political, economic and social restrictions, in order to prevent children's mental health problems.