Introduction
The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has been imposing numerous restrictions and challenges for everyone in the world for over one year. Especially young families have been faced with various challenges and measures. They were faced with recommendations for increasing physical distance, sudden closure of schools and childcare, the loss of community programs and jobs, increasing pressure from recession or unemployment, home schooling, lack of social support among others, from grandparents, which require them all to find solutions to the emerging problems (Fegert et al.,
2020; Halvorsen et al.,
2020; Johns Hopkins University,
2021). “Social distancing” is also confronting the little ones in our society with considerable challenges. With the additional closure of organized leisure activities in clubs, churches and other institutions as well as the impossibility of informal face-to-face meetings for children and young people, a new life situation arises for them where crucial and development-relevant parameters of everyday life suddenly break away. We might assume that the ongoing pandemic will have social, emotional and cognitive effects that we do not yet know in detail but can foresee (Feinberg et al.,
2021).
A relevant protective factor in times of a pandemic seems to be a stable parental home. Numerous studies have already shown that especially in times of stress and uncertainty triggered by a pandemic, especially young children urgently need a secure and stable family environment (Schofield et al.,
2013; Flouri et al.,
2015; Hostinar et al.,
2014; Yue et al.,
2020). In addition, previous economic recessions have shown that factors like unemployment, decreasing income, excessive debt and parental history of psychological stress pose serious threats to a family’s mental health. This has been shown in terms of a decrease in mental well-being as well as increasing rates of various mental disorders, parental substance-related disorders or suicidal behavior (Feinberg et al.,
2021; Fegert et al.,
2020; Wu et al.,
2020; Frasquilho et al.,
2016; Haw et al.,
2015). Spinelli and colleagues reported in a current study that the health risks and fears associated with SARS-CoV-2 have an impact on the parental mental health and their perception of stress and that these changes negatively affect the children’s well-being (Spinelli et al.,
2020; Pierce et al.,
2020). Several studies suggest a strong link between parental mental health and children’s mental well-being under pre-pandemic normal conditions (Weissman et al.,
2006; Beardslee et al.,
2011; Reger et al.,
2020; Roos et al.,
2021), expressed through the development of internalizing problems (Fanti et al.,
2008), externalizing problems (Gross et al.,
2008) as well as emotional adjustment (van der Valk et al.,
2007). We may consider that the importance of parental mental health is evident and in fact, not all parents are able to be particularly stress-resistant and organized in times of a pandemic in order to provide a safe and protective environment for their children.
One factor that may be of importance on how parents deal with pandemic-associated stressors seems to be the parents’ own mental health. Agid et al. (
2000) suggest the experience of stressful early life experiences as a relevant predictor increasing parental mental health problems. Stressful early life experiences like experiences of childhood maltreatment (CM), abuse or neglect relate to further characteristics such as adult attachment representation (Morton & Browne,
1998; Finzi et al.,
2001; Baer & Martinez,
2006). The association between CM and patterns of attachment has repeatedly been reported within the trauma literature. It has been demonstrated that maltreated children (Haskett et al.,
2006) and formerly abused adults are more likely to show a higher proportion of insecure or unresolved attachment (Muller et al.,
2000; Weinfield et al.,
2000; Muller,
2009; Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn,
2009; Buchheim et al.,
2017;
2018; Buchheim & Diamond,
2018). According to the metanalysis of van IJzendoorn & Bakermans-Kranenburg (
2008) clinical groups with internalizing and externalizing disorders predominantly consisted of individuals with insecure attachment patterns. In line with this, depressive symptomology has specifically been linked to insecure-preoccupied and unresolved attachment representations (Cooke et al.,
2019; van IJzendoorn & Bakermans-Kranenburg (
2008), Bauriedl-Schmidt et al.,
2017; Buchheim et al.,
2018). Recent research demonstrates that individuals with an insecure attachment seem particularly at risk to develop mental distress in less stressful times like a pandemic, but results are heterogenous. Moccia et al. (
2020) found that confidence and discomfort with closeness were protective during the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast Linag et al. (
2021) suggested that parents with dismissing and fearful attachment styles and their children may be at higher risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and they should be given long-term attention. Results with respect to attachment styles during COVID-19 pandemic seem to be inconsistent, and insecure attachment patterns are considered to be related to maladaptive emotion regulation (Mikulincer et al.,
2003).
Since depressive symptoms were repeatedly recorded throughout the whole project, this study also focused on depressive symptoms. In addition, studies have already found more than a threefold increase in depressive symptoms since the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, so consideration of these symptoms is considered reasonable (Ettman et al.,
2020). We may conclude that the current pandemic presents a great challenge to coping with pandemic-associated consequences, especially for individuals with a background of insecure or unresolved attachment. Moreover, we assume that the risk of developing depressive symptoms is increased compared to individuals with lower emotional burden due to the pandemic situation.
In view of the fact that numerous findings confirm the connection between the mental health of parents and their children (Fitzsimons et al.,
2017; van der Waerden et al.,
2015; Goodman et al.,
2011), children of parents with an insecure or unresolved attachment representation seem particularly at risk of developing mental distress themselves especially in times of a pandemic. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the developmental pathway between the parental attachment representation of mothers with and without stressful early life experiences such as CM and their own as well as their children’s subsequent mental and behavioral outcomes in order to support positive child development, particularly in the context of additional stressors caused by the ongoing pandemic.
Therefore, the aim of our study was to analyze the interplay between the maternal attachment representation and the mothers’ and children’s mental health before and during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic.
We hypothesized that mothers with insecure or unresolved attachment representations are more likely to report more severe depressive symptoms and that a lower quality of maternal mental health is associated with increased mental distress of children during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We also assumed that the maternal history of CM is associated with maternal attachment representation.
Discussion
The ongoing pandemic has proven to have far-reaching and exceptional implications for children, adolescents and their families from an attachment perspective (Steele,
2020). The social-distancing restrictions implemented into daily life to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as school closures, home schooling (UNESCO), limited private shielding, quarantine as well as the cancellation of out-of-home leisure time activities (Wang et al.,
2020a; Wang et al.,
2020b; Flaxman et al.,
2021) have added to the already existing burden of family situations, potentially to the point of overtaxing their capacity to handle the related challenges (Fegert et al.,
2020). Furthermore, it has to be considered that external support provided by other family members and institutional social systems failed (Fegert et al.,
2020).
According to current research examining the pandemic-related effects on young children between 3 and 6 years of age, they are significantly more likely to be affected by stress symptoms in their emotional and social development compared to older children (Viner et al.,
2020). This underlines the importance of a stable and secure family environment, which is fundamentally formed by mentally healthy parents, as a strong protective factor for children in their daily life (Schofield et al.,
2013; Flouri et al.,
2015; Hostinar et al.,
2014; Yue et al.,
2020). Therefore, our study aimed to investigate for the first time maternal mental health under consideration of mothers’ attachment influenced by their history of CM and previous relationship experiences by contrasting the effect of these factors on the children’s mental health before and during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic. Our results corroborate and expand on previous findings not only by examining the associations between these variables but by modelling their interplay in a mediation analysis. Understanding the mechanism behind the influence of maternal insecure attachment on their children’s mental health provides important information to derive further clinical and practical implications.
Several previous studies indicate that adult participants with experiences of CM are more likely to develop an insecure and unresolved attachment representation in adulthood (Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn,
2009; Muller,
2009; Muller et al.,
2012). Moreover, Bailey and colleagues (
2007) observed in their sample with at-risk adolescent mothers that a general history of CM was related to an unresolved attachment. Complementing these findings, our results show that maternal current attachment representations were significantly predicted by and related to the extent of the CM they had experienced.
Muller and colleagues (2012) further identified attachment representation as a relevant mediator between CM and adult psychopathology. Their findings showed that insecure attachment was predicted by psychological and physical abuse and predicted externalizing, internalizing and trauma-related symptomology (Muller et al.,
2012). Other studies demonstrated that depressive symptomology was associated with insecure-preoccupied and unresolved attachment representations (Dagan et al.,
2018; Chow & Ruhl,
2014, Bauriedl-Schmidt et al.,
2017). In accordance with this finding, we found in our study that maternal attachment representation significantly related to the severity of depressive symptoms experienced by mothers both before and during the pandemic. Mothers with an insecure attachment representation significantly differed in their depression level before and during the pandemic from mothers with a secure attachment representation. Based on the descriptive mean difference, mothers with insecure or unresolved attachment representations tended to report more severe symptoms of depression and this tendency was especially clear during the pandemic. This is in line with the findings by Hankin (
2005) who reported of a significant association CM, insecure attachment and depressive symptoms in late life (Hankin,
2005). Widom and colleagues (
2018) recently confirmed that individuals with a history of CM are at higher risk for an insecure or unresolved attachment in adulthood and higher levels of depression as well as lower levels of self-esteem.
Furthermore, several studies have suggested an association between the mental health of parents and their children (Fitzsimons et al.,
2017; van der Waerden et al.,
2015; Goodman et al.,
2011; Reger et al.
2020; Roos et al.
2021). Fitzsimons and collegues (
2017) observed parental mental health as the strongest correlate of children’s mental health even under consideration of other covariates. In a birth cohort study Waerden and collegues (
2015) reported that children whose mothers indicated a persistent trajectory of depressive symptoms showed the greatest levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties. Consistent with this finding, we found that the maternal depression level significantly correlated with their children’s mental health problems before and during the pandemic. Here, the children’s mental health problems were likely to be more pronounced when their mothers experienced more severe depressive symptoms. This association was, in fact, noticeably stronger during the pandemic compared to the moderate tendency before the onset of the pandemic. This is in line with our assumption that maternal mental health impacts their children’s mental health more strongly under the additional challenges and stress posed by the pandemic. Our descriptive and inferential results also outline a significant increase in the depressive symptomology experienced by mothers and in their children’s mental health problems during the pandemic compared to the mothers’ retrospective estimation of their depression level and their children’s mental health before the pandemic. This is in line with our assumption that the stress load of families in times of the ongoing pandemic increases persistently, and that, in turn, this pandemic-associated stress load enhances the risk to develop or amplify a depressive symptomology.
However, our study further aims to provide insight into how a maternal history of CM and the associated risk to develop and carry an insecure and unresolved attachment representation into adulthood significantly affects their psychopathology and their children’s mental health. Therefore, we have created a model to put into context the corresponding variables both before and during the pandemic. In view of the findings of our preliminary analyses, we did not expect a total or direct effect of mothers’ attachment representation on children’s mental health before or during the pandemic. Our present study did not observe a significant link between the maternal attachment representation and their children’s mental health and during the pandemic. Furthermore, children of mothers with an insecure attachment did not significantly differ from children of mothers with a secure attachment in their mental health problems across the assessment of their mental health before and during the pandemic. Instead, we set out focus on investigating the interplay of attachment representation, the mothers’ mental health struggles and their children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties. The relevance of our study regards the examination of how the effect of mothers’ attachment representation on their children’s mental health may operate in order to understand the underlying mechanism and to establish a framework for future research approaches.
The results of our mediation analyses suggest that the mothers’ depressive symptomology significantly and fully mediated the relationship between attachment representation and children’s mental health during the pandemic, while the total and direct effect, indeed, did not reach significance as expected based on our preliminary analyses. Therefore, during the pandemic, mothers with attachment insecurity were at a significantly higher risk to experience more severe symptoms of depression, which significantly contributed to their children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties. Furthermore, we found the mothers’ severity of depression to function as a significant mediator between the mothers’ attachment representation and children’s specific types of mental health problems. During the pandemic, the mothers’ attachment representation significantly predicted a higher level of depression-related symptoms, which was found to significantly increase the likelihood of children’s emotional problems, externalizing behavioral problems, and hyperactivity/attention problems, respectively.
This corroborates our assumption that a maternal history of CM and the associated attachment insecurity substantively influence children’s subsequent mental and behavioral outcomes through the joint association with the mothers’ depressive symptomology. Therefore, they should be considered as additional risk factors, not exclusive but particularly in times of paramount stress. However, we only observed the mothers’ depressive symptomology as a significant mediator during the pandemic. In contrast, our analyses did not reveal a significant indirect effect of maternal attachment representation on children’s mental health through the mothers’ severity of depression before the onset of the pandemic. Confirming our assumption based on the results of our preliminary analyses, no total or direct effect of maternal attachment representation on children’s mental health was found. The mothers’ attachment representation was significantly related to their depressive symptomology, which significantly predicted their children’s mental health problems, but the mediating effect was not significant. Therefore, it can, at best, be argued that a greater severity of depressive symptoms experienced by mothers marginally mediated the influence of attachment insecurity on children’s mental health problems. The same pattern applied to the mediating effect of mothers’ depressive symptomology between their attachment representation and their children’s specific types of mental health problems. Even though mothers with an insecure attachment were more likely to have more severe depressive symptoms, which appeared to significantly increase the likelihood for their children to exhibit emotional problems, externalizing behavioral problems and hyperactivity/attention problems, respectively, the indirect effect did not reach significance. The results showed that mothers with an insecure attachment were more likely to have more severe depressive symptoms which appeared to significantly increase the likelihood for their children to exhibit emotional problems, externalizing behavioral problems and hyperactivity/attention problems. Nevertheless, the indirect effect from mothers attachment representation to child’s mental health did not reach significance.
The findings highlight, especially in times of a pandemic, that possible risk factors with regard to the mental health of children must be extensively investigated. The analyses emphasize that the previous history of a parent as well as the stressors within in the family, such as the intelligence of the parents, may play a crucial role in how the family and especially the children within the family cope with times such as a pandemic in terms of health. Consequently, the evidence emphasizes the necessity to consider the unique needs and backgrounds of families with children and to offer support to cope with the current crisis. For example, families with a known parental history of CM could be offered regular support services to intervene early. Furthermore, our findings suggest that addressing mothers with insecure attachment and a history of CM with concurrent depressive symptomology might provide a fruitful approach for preventing the development of children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Breaking the vicious circle of transgenerational transmission of maternal abuse experiences and inadequate parental behavior resulting in children’s attachment insecurity and adult psychopathology is essential and might be underlined by our findings. The development of appropriate psychoeducational measures about these relationships for affected mothers could also be helpful in this regard.
The present findings indicate that the effects of a pandemic such as the SARS-CoV-2- should be the target of future studies in the context of the family system. Fegert et al. (
2020) already addressed the fact that the pandemic has particularly affected disadvantaged and marginalized children and adolescents and that especially vulnerable families will be exposed to numerous additional stress factors as a result of a possible economic recession, even after the pandemic (Fegert et al.,
2020). Even if the current pandemic is both stressful and restrictive, it can contribute to the development of new innovative approaches, especially with regard to support and counseling offers for young families, which make it possible to support and accompany families more comprehensively (like such as increased telephone and online advice offers). The inclusion of other variables such as post-traumatic stress or resilience factors should also be undertaken in further studies on this topic to develop assistance programs for burdened families that are even better adapted to their needs.
We have to consider several limitations in the present study. First, our sample is limited to mothers of the birth cohort of mother-child dyads that had complete data sets and completed an online survey. Their willingness to participate in the survey may be accompanied by an openness to indicate their own depressive symptomology and their children’s mental health problems. Concurrently, it has to be considered that the ratings and answers regarding such questions may be affected by social desirability. Similarly, mothers retrospectively gave indications of their level of depression as well as their children’s mental health problems before the pandemic compared to their rating of their depressive symptoms and their children’s mental health within the last 2 weeks. Therefore, the assessment of recent symptoms and emotional or behavioral difficulties may have been more salient or may have been influenced by memory effects. The mental state of the mother may also have led to distorted assessments of their children´s mental health. Furthermore, our data collection was temporally limited to a short time period at the beginning of the pandemic, which focuses our study on a small sample. Therefore, future studies are needed to confirm our results and substantiate our proposed model with a larger sample size.
Second, our findings cannot be generalized to all families as our sample is characterized by a large number participants who were highly educated, had a partner and did not experience an decrease in income due to the pandemic, which cannot be seen as representative of the general public and can function as protective factors against detrimental consequences of CM. Meng et al. (
2018) have reported higher education and socioeconomic status to be positively related to psychological well-being and life satisfaction. In addition, Ford (
2012) observed that a lower educational level of women with history of victimization was associated with more severe trauma-related symptoms in their sample inferring that posttraumatic resilience may be promoted through educational attainment (Ford,
2012). Moreover, it is noteworthy that our sample included mothers with secure attachment representations despite a history of CM and that the majority of our sample reported to be live in a partnership. This may point towards the experiences of positive and successful relationships in adulthood buffering a history of adverse experiences (Mikulincer & Shaver,
2007). Furthermore, the overrepresentation of being in a partnership may have attenuated the lack of social support experienced by single parents in particular during the ongoing pandemic. The use of other variables, such as the number of children living in the household or workplace, should also be collected in future studies to further describe the participating families. It is possible that this will reveal other protective factors that the families exhibit and can therefore reduce the influence of CM. There could also be selective dropout of subjects: one of the most common reasons for non-participation was lack of time. We may thus not have been able to include mothers with a particularly high stress level in the study, which may have led to biased results.
Third, several studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have observed an increased likelihood of, for example, children’s emotional, behavioral, and adjustment difficulties associated with paternal mental health problems (Davé et al.,
2008; Kane & Garber,
2009; Weitzman et al.,
2011; Sweeney & MacBeth,
2016; Cheung & Theule,
2019). Therefore, we would like to point out that the importance of considering the paternal or second caregiver’s psychopathology on children’s mental health. Accordingly, interviewing additional family members such as the father could lead to further findings and should be implemented in future studies. Empirical statements clearly show the link between maternal depression and adverse outcomes for children. Investigations of associations between a parental symptomology and child development has not yet gained as much attention but should be included in an expanded model.
Also to be mentioned is the use of the PHQ-9 as a questionnaire to assess depressive symptomatology. This does not capture one symptom of depression, which is, however, necessary in the DSM-V for this diagnosis: namely, the restriction in various areas of life due to the symptoms described. Since the PHQ-9 is only intended to serve as a screening instrument for a quick overview and it is an established instrument in research, its use is not wrong, but should be supplemented in the future by other questionnaires regarding depression symptoms.
Last, as mentioned, only 6.5% of participating mothers indicated a decrease in income since the beginning of the pandemic and 26.1% reported to be working short time during the pandemic. However, our data collection took place at the beginning of the pandemic and, even though our sample cannot be considered representative of the general public, more people may have lost their jobs and experienced financial hardship over the course of the pandemic. As Fitzsimons and colleagues (
2017) found, not only was current and persistent poverty related to an adverse mental health of children but also a transition into poverty. The aggravation of the ongoing pandemic has led to prolonged situations of lockdown and, thereby, has endangered even more jobs compared to the beginning of the pandemic. In view of this, the prospective trajectory of parents’ socio-economic situation may function as another risk factor to children’s mental health during and after the pandemic. In addition, other factors than the pandemic may have caused the change in the mother’s depressive symptomatology as well as the child’s mental health that were not considered in this study.
However, concludingly, our results give an insight into the relevance of considering and modeling the mechanism through which effects may operate. With our present study we might have been able to improve the understanding of the interplay between CM, parental attachment representations, adult symptomology, and children’s mental health.