ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2021
The disparate impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of female and male caregivers.
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental and Emotional Health of Athletes: A Systematic Review.The American journal of sports medicine · 2023Pooled it
- The COVID-19 pandemic as a traumatic event and the associated psychological impact on families - A systematic review.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Protective and Non-Protective Factors of Mental Health Distress in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Pooled it
- Psychological Support Interventions for Healthcare Providers and Informal Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review of the Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Pandemic Shadows: Unmasking Gender Disparities in Academic Productivity and Work-Family Conflict.Canadian review of sociology = Revue canadienne de sociologie · 2026Article
- Maternal internalizing symptoms as a mechanism linking pre- and postnatal COVID-19 pandemic exposure with preschool-aged children's neurodevelopment.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Article
- Fatherhood among healthcare workers: perceived work-family conflict and its influential factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional and exploratory longitudinal findings from the VOICE study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Association of Everyday Discrimination With Drug Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the All of Us Research Program.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- The dual benefits of professional values on income and health among healthcare workers in China: a cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Interactions between early-life adversity, pandemic stress, and social support on psychiatric disorders in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Mental health trajectories over the COVID-19 pandemic among young adults reporting adverse childhood experiences.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Dynamic patterns of healthy lifestyle awareness after COVID-19: a study using Google Trends and joinpoint regression.Frontiers in big data · 2025Article
- Anxiety and Depression Disorders in Undergraduate Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Integrative Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
- Home-based work and childbearing.Population studies · 2024Article
- Rural-urban differences in the perceived impact of COVID-19 on mental health by European women.Archives of women's mental health · 2024Article
- Adverse childhood experiences, mental distress, self-harm and suicidality, and cumulative HIV risk by sex in Lesotho.Child abuse & neglect · 2024Article
- Community Members' Perceptions of a Resource-Rich Well-Being Website in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Qualitative Thematic Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on public social life and mental health: a statistical study of google trends data from the USA.Journal of applied statistics · 2024Article
- Perceived social support and characteristics of social networks of families with children with special healthcare needs following the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Implications of time and space factors related with youth substance use prevention: a conceptual review and case study of the Icelandic Prevention Model being implemented in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2023Review
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Caregiver mental health is crucial to the wellbeing of children. This is most apparent when caregivers face high levels of stress or life adversity. To study this phenomenon in the current global context, this study examined the relation between stress/disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic and the mental health of female and male caregivers. Pre-pandemic childhood adversity was considered as a moderator of this association. A multi-national sample (United Kingdom, 76%; United States, 19%; Canada, 4%, and Australia, 1%) was recruited in May 2020, of whom 348 female and 143 male caregivers of 5-18 year-old children provided data on the constructs of interest. At this time, caregivers reported on their history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and COVID stress/disruption. About two months later (July 2020) caregiver mental health was evaluated. We examined differences between female and male caregivers on ACEs, COVID stress/disruption, and mental health (distress, anxiety, substance use, and posttraumatic stress). Main and interactive effects of ACEs and COVID stress/disruption on each mental health outcome were examined. Female caregivers reported higher COVID stress/disruption, more ACEs, and greater distress, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms compared to male caregivers. Among female caregivers, higher COVID stress/disruption and more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) independently predicted all mental health outcomes, consistent with a stress accumulation model. Among male caregivers, a pattern of interactions between COVID stress/disruption and ACEs suggested that the effects of COVID stress/disruption on mental health was stronger for those with higher ACEs, especially for substance use, consistent with a stress sensitization model. Higher levels of stress and mental health difficulties among female caregivers suggests a disproportionate burden due to pandemic-related disruption compared to male caregivers. Findings speak to the disparate effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of female compared to male caregivers, and the role of pre-existing vulnerabilities in shaping current adaptation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.