Maltreatment, harsh parenting, and parent-adolescent relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic

Madeline B Harms; Julia Record

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101637

Maltreatment, harsh parenting, and parent-adolescent relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic

Curr Opin Psychol. 2023 Aug:52:101637. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101637. Epub 2023 Jul 13.

Authors

Madeline B Harms¹, Julia Record²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Duluth, United States. Electronic address: harms124@d.umn.edu.
² Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Duluth, United States.

PMID: 37453182
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101637

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted multiple aspects of family life, including normative tendencies for adolescents to establish independence from the family. This disruption has had profound, but variable impacts on parent-adolescent relationships, strengthening them in some circumstances and increasing the risk for harsh parenting and maltreatment in others. Factors that moderated this influence include a family's financial situation and pandemic-related job loss, pre-existing characteristics of the parent-child relationship, and parent and adolescent mental health. Further research is needed to examine the mechanisms through which the pandemic continues to influence parent-adolescent relationships, with attention to policy-related impacts.

Keywords: Adolescent development; COVID-19 pandemic; Harsh parenting; Maltreatment; Parent–child relationship.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
COVID-19*
Humans
Pandemics
Parent-Child Relations
Parenting* / psychology
Parents / psychology