Coronavirus fear and mental health in parents of children with chronic disorders: A 12-month longitudinal study

Parents of children with chronic disorders are at increased risk of mental health difficulties. We investigated how coronavirus anxiety and pandemic restrictions affected parental mental health during the COVID 19-pandemic. Parents of children with chronic disorders (N=43) in Norway were followed prospectively for 12 months. Each month, parents completed the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (SCL-5) as a measure of mental health and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS). The stringency index from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker was used as a measure of pandemic restrictions. The results showed no change in mental health difficulties or coronavirus anxiety at the group level over the 12 months. At the between-person level, parents with higher level of coronavirus anxiety reported more mental health difficulties ( b = .96, p < .001) and an increase in mental health difficulties over the 12 months ( b = .05, p = .025). At the within-person level, an increase in coronavirus anxiety from one time to another was associated with an increase in mental health difficulties over that same time ( b = .84, p < .001). There was no significant effect of pandemic restrictions in the final model ( b = .02, p = .066). We conclude that coronavirus anxiety, but not pandemic restrictions, affected the mental health trajectory of parents of children with chronic disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main implication is that during ongoing or future crises, targeting crisis event-specific anxiety may prevent worsening mental health difficulties among parents of children with chronic disorders.