Does perceived social cohesion moderate the effect of parental stressors on depressive symptoms? A longitudinal, multi-level analysis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Perceived social cohesion (PSC) is a protective factor for mental health. Yet, evidence on social mechanisms influencing mental health is scarce.

Aims: We examined the moderating role of PSC between parental stressors and depressive symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We performed a multilevel moderated linear regression analysis using German Socio-Economic Panel (G-SOEP) data to investigate the interaction of PSC in 2018 and in 2020 with parental stressors (having pre-school-aged child(-ren), concerns about COVID-19 infection, financial insecurity, working from home, changes at work) and depressive symptoms (PHQ-4) in 2020 and 2021.

Results: 3,112 observations from 1,621 participants were included in the regression analyses. The parental stressors had mostly negative, although not always significant effects on PHQ-4. Both PSC measures positively moderated the association between experienced financial insecurity and PHQ-4. PCS 2020 positively moderated the association between the stressors "not working from home" and "being unemployed in 2020 or 2021" compared to "having no changes at work" for those employed. It negatively moderated the association between "having some concerns about infection" and PHQ-4.

Conclusions: PSC can act as a buffer for parental mental health. Social cohesion should be promoted in public health interventions, especially during pandemics or disasters.