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This study took a family systems perspective and tested spillover theory to examine the transmission of stress from parents to children during COVID-19. Using a longitudinal design with a 1-year interval, we tested the association between parent perceived stress and perceived child stress, and the sequential mediating effects of poor family functioning and parent–child closeness. The data comprised 134 parents residing in the US who were assessed from the initial first peak of COVID-19 infections in 2020 to 2021, 1 year later. Results indicated that when controlling for covariates, there was a significant association between parent perceived stress and perceived child stress. What is more, poor family functioning and parent–child closeness fully mediated the former link in sequence. These findings highlighted the need for improving family relationship quality when providing interventions that target families suffering in stressful contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scales assessing stressor exposure often fail to demonstrate adequate psychometric qualities, demonstrating low interitem reliability or complex factor structures, as would be expected, given that the majority of stressors are independent events. However, in large-scale mass crisis events, the stressors may be highly interrelated, indicating shared experience. Furthermore, few stressor exposure scales also measure appraised stressfulness of those stressors. Development of a psychometrically sound measure of both stressor exposure and appraisal advances the study of highly stressful events such as community-wide crises, especially in providing a useful measure of its cumulative stressfulness. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an enduring, worldwide stressor with an indefinite timeline. The COVID-19 Stressor Scale is a 23-item measure of stressor exposure and appraisal related to the pandemic developed within the first weeks of widespread shelter-in-place practices in the Unites States. We present initial psychometric results of the COVID-19 Stressor Scale. Results of a principal components analysis indicate that the measure is unidimensional and has strong internal consistency. Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated. The COVID-19 Stressor Scale is a useful measure for studying the ongoing stressors associated with the pandemic and presents a model for measuring other massive, ongoing crises.

Objective: The present study provides descriptive results on parents' mental health, ambiguous loss, stress, and parent–child relationship as well as child stress and children's emotion regulation abilities. Additionally, we present initial psychometric results and preliminary regression findings from a quantitative ambiguous loss measure. Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to more than one million deaths in the United States and subsequent mental health difficulties for parents and children. Method: Data were collected from 134 participants (MParentAge = 39.1 years; 54.5% women; MChildAge = 9.4 years) in early May 2021. Analyses examined group differences of longitudinal findings over a year‐long period, parents' gender, and financial needs. Results: Moderate levels of COVID‐19–specific stress as well as general stress in both parents and children were found. Women reported higher levels of closeness among the parent–child dyad, and parents whose financial needs were not met reported significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression. A liner regression indicated that 44.3% of the variance in ambiguous loss can be explained by COVID‐19 specific stress and depression. Conclusion: Individuals and families are still experiencing difficulties after the COVID‐19 pandemic, as seen through the descriptives presented. Additionally, ambiguous loss can be predicted by these experiences. Implications: Long‐term information about individual and family experiences after a year of the COVID‐19 pandemic highlights important experiences of generalized stress in both parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]