Parenting stress among Latine mothers during the pandemic predicts children's emotional distress

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted Latine families, who experienced disproportionate rates of infection and economic hardship. Using a national sample collected between April 2020 and September 2022, we explored parenting stress among 2191 Latine mothers of children under six years old in the U.S. Path analysis confirmed that household experiences of material hardship, but not parental unemployment, significantly predicted increases in parenting stress. Elevated parenting stress during the pandemic was further associated with significant increases in child fussiness/defiance and fear/anxiety behaviors. In addition, parental unemployment had a direct negative effect on children's fussiness/defiance behaviors. Structural Topic Modeling (Roberts, 2019) discerned 11 themes from open-ended survey responses provided in English on what was challenging for Latine mothers and their families. Four topics– cost of basic needs (food), disrupted family life and social isolation, struggles with emotional distress, and lack of childcare/early intervention services –were significant predictors of parenting stress, which was linked to significant increases in children's emotional distress. Universal and targeted strategies to promote resilience for Latine children are discussed.