A pilot study examining financial stress during COVID-19 and executive function in mental health in parents and children

Families have endured intense economic shock throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which may be linked to reduced cognitive performance as well as mental health outcomes of parents and children. The present study investigated how COVID-19-related financial stress and parental job loss impact executive functions and mental health in both parents and adolescents. Participants in the study were 83 adolescent-parent dyads (Adolescent Age M = 13.01 years, SD = 2.27, Parent Age M = 43.26, SD = 5.07) who participated remotely between April 25th and June 1st 2021. Both parents and adolescents completed three measures of executive function and also reported on their mental health symptoms using the MHI-5 and RCADS-short, respectively. Parents also reported on financial stress and whether they or their partner had lost employment during the pandemic (37.8% lost employment). Parental job loss was correlated with greater financial stress (r =.342, p =.002). Financial stress was correlated with worse adolescent inhibitory control (r = -.232, p =.036), but better parent working memory (r =.261, p =.018). Greater financial stress was associated with more mental health symptoms (r =.288, p =.009) for parents, but not adolescents. These results suggest that financial stress may impact child executive function and parent mental health. Further research is needed, as the long-term repercussions of economic stress on mental health and executive functions may become more apparent as the pandemic progresses.