Youth Chronic Illness as a Moderator Between Parenting Stress and Parent Emotional Wellbeing During COVID-19

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses a serious risk to mental health. Children with chronic health conditions, including diabetes and pulmonary conditions, are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 complications. Studies have demonstrated that parenting stress is greater when youth have a chronic illness. This poster examines the presence of pediatric diabetes or pulmonary conditions as a categorical moderator between parenting stress and parent emotional wellbeing. It is hypothesized caregivers of youth with diabetes or a pulmonary condition would be more likely to experience greater levels of parenting stress and lower levels of emotional wellbeing. We recruited 634 parents during the COVID-19 pandemic to complete a series of questionnaires. First-order effects in hierarchical multiple regression indicated that parenting stress significantly, positively predicted parent emotional well-being, explaining 22% of the variance in parent emotional well-being. After adding the interaction term, the second-order model accounted for a significant portion of the variance in parent emotional wellbeing, with the presence of diabetes or pulmonary condition becoming a significant moderator. Parents of youth with diabetes or a pulmonary condition tended to experience greater parenting stress and greater emotional wellbeing. Although previous literature has found greater parenting stress is linked with psychological distress in parents, additional factors such as social support and appreciation for physical health during COVID-19 may contribute to parents’ emotional wellbeing. Findings suggest that psychosocial interventions targeting chronically ill youths’ caregivers during COVID-19 may be substantially enhanced by incorporating parenting stress reduction interventions