Parental worry, family-based disaster education and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

This study expands our knowledge about relationships between parental worry and children's disaster-related well-being, and highlights the importance of adapting family-based disaster education to different ages. Data suggest that parents of young elementary schoolchildren and early adolescents both should avoid showing excessive worry in front of their children during the pandemic to help reduce their children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Effective family-based disaster education can mitigate young elementary schoolchildren's emotional distress and behavioral problems, the effect of which may be maximized if parents can avoid being overly worried. Parents of early adolescents should support their children in acquiring pandemic-related information independently and encourage them to seek support outside the family. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).