Is Positive Reframing an Adaptive Coping Strategy? Coping as a Moderator of Stress in Middle‐Income Families During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID‐19 pandemic introduced various stressors to families globally, significantly affecting children's environments. We investigated how these circumstances influenced children's psychosocial outcomes in middle‐income families. Specifically, we examined the effects of parental stress and coping strategies on the psychosocial well‐being of children under the age of 7. Parents ( N = 153) completed questionnaires assessing family income, stress levels, coping strategies and changes in their children's psychosocial outcomes amid the COVID‐19 pandemic. Parental stress mediated the relationship between income and child internalizing–emotional psychosocial outcomes. Parents' positive reframing and self‐blame both moderated the effect of stress on child psychosocial outcomes in a similar manner. Although this study focused on middle‐income families, our findings are in line with the family stress model. Additionally, the findings question the utility of positive reframing as an adaptive coping strategy during uncertain and uncontrollable stressful circumstances. Our findings have the potential to influence family interventions and clinical practice, particularly during national and global public health emergencies.