Document Type
Dissertation - Open Access
Award Date
2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department / School
Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies
First Advisor
Abdallah M. Badahdah
Abstract
Parents in particular, are disproportionately affected by the 2019 coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns that followed. Parents had to find a way to balance work, teaching, and taking care of their kids when schools were forced to close for safety reasons. While changes in parents' mental health have been the subject of a number of studies, there have been no studies comparing the level of depression and anxiety experienced by parents with and without children below the age of 18 years in the United States. Data for this study came from Households Pulse Survey (HPS) (week 2 N = 41,996; week 38 N = 59833), an online survey assessing health-related behavioral outcomes as well as self-reported changes caused by COVID-19 that was completed by adults in the U.S. In the first analysis, the study found no statistically significant difference in self-reported scores for both anxiety and depression between parents/guardians with and without children below 18 years old in the household both at the early and later phases of the pandemic. However, a greater percentage of households with children reported experiencing anxiety, depression, taking mental health prescription medication, receiving professional mental health services, or seeking mental health services and not getting any during the pandemic. Using the same sample of respondents, the study determined in the second assessment that both anxiety and depression scores decreased over time. The study found a correlation between higher mean scores of depression and anxiety and the presence of children and adolescents below 18 years old in the household. However, shared stress factors affected this association. During and after the pandemic, parents/guardians living with children should receive assistance, as findings demonstrate.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Households -- Social aspects -- United States.
Parents -- Mental health.
Depression, Mental.
Anxiety.
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- -- Influence.
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Jamali, Hanan Mohammed Eissa, "Comparison of Self-Reported Depression and Anxiety Scores Between U.S. Households with and Without Children at Early and Later Stages of the Covid-19 Pandemic" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 608.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd2/608
Rights Statement
