Demographic characteristics, Child Mental Health, and Maternal Mental Health
We found few associations between demographic factors with maternal mental health profiles. This is surprising given past findings that disadvantaged individuals may face more mental health challenges (Campbell et al., 2009; Gross et al., 2020). However, it is important to note that the sample used in this study consists of low-income mothers, many of whom are immigrants to Canada and/or head single-parent households. Furthermore, during COVID-19, the Canadian government made several social and financial supports available (Petit & Tedds, 2020). These financial supports might have disproportionally benefitted low-income families (e.g., Canada Emergency Response Benefit, also referred to as CERB, might have been greater than or equal to the amount of income lost during COVID-19). However, they may not have been sufficient for those who had higher salaries.
Only parental overprotection was associated with poorer maternal mental health before and during COVID-19. This highlights the need to identify which types of parenting behaviours and thoughts require support. In addition, assessing the degree of overprotection could assist practitioners in identifying mothers who require greater support, particularly during times of heightened stress.
Consistent with existing literature, we found a significant association between maternal mental health and children’s temperament (Tolja, Radoš, & Anđelinović, 2020). Prior to the pandemic, mothers with poorer mental health rated their children as more fearful. However, these findings were not replicated during the pandemic, suggesting that the pandemic had a unique influence on the role of children’s temperament. Mothers reported increased fearfulness in their children during COVID-19. This increased fearfulness may have resulted from children coping with the pandemic, rather than being linked to maternal mental health. Notably, however, children’s anger significantly predicted maternal mental health during the pandemic. These results suggest that in situations with high stress and limited resources (such as school and childcare closures), mothers with more difficult children may experience declines in mental health. Alternatively, declining maternal mental health may lead to increased perceptions of children’s anger or a heightened experience of angry behaviour in children.
Mothers who were below clinical concern prior to COVID-19 were least likely to report that their children had high emotional challenges, highlighting associations between family dynamics and mental health. This finding is consistent with prior research showing the relationship between children’s internalizing problems and maternal mental health. However, during COVID-19, other indicators of children’s mental health, such as conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems, were related to maternal mental health profiles. Mothers whose children had higher levels of problems in these areas prior to the pandemic were more likely to be in profiles characterized by clinically depressed and highly stressed mental health during COVID-19.
Our findings highlight that families are complex social systems in which individuals are influenced by one another (Kerr & Bowen, 1988). Our findings were consistent with prior research highlighting the relationship between children’s internalizing problems and maternal mental health (Arroyo-Borrell et al., 2017; Burns et al., 2022). Interestingly, no associations were found between the other child mental health subscales and maternal mental health profiles. The findings align with important theories such as, family systems theory (Kerr & Bowen, 1988; Minuchin, 1974) that emphasize that family members influence one another’s behaviour, or in this instance, their mental health. The significant associations between children’s mental health and COVID-19 profile membership are not surprising since mothers assumed the majority of the child care responsibilities during the pandemic and were significantly more involved with their children’s learning at home during the pandemic (Alon et al., 2020). Therefore, to support low-income mothers with young children, it is imperative to ensure their children are doing okay.