The longitudinal relationship of young children’s mental health with parental mental health and demographic factors during the COVID-19 pandemic

We aimed to assess the relationship of early child mental health measured through the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 with parental mental health and demographic factors over a two-year period during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was a secondary analysis of survey data from a parental feeding practices study. Survey data were collected at baseline from 321 parents between February 2020 and January 2021 and two additional times over the next two years. Separate mixed effects multilevel regression models were used to examine the relationship over time between children's mental health with child sex and race/ethnicity; parent depression, anxiety, and stress; and household income and food insecurity. Higher parent depression, anxiety, and stress scores were associated with worsening mental health for their children. Male children had higher inattentive PSC-17 subscale scores compared to female children.