Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40868414›Full record

ArticleChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2025

COVID-19 Stress and Family Well-Being: The Role of Sleep in Mental Health Outcomes for Parents and Children.

Alzena Ilie, Andy J Kim, Danika DesRoches, Elizabeth Keys, Simon B Sherry, Sherry H Stewart, S Hélène Deacon, Penny V Corkum

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Alzena IlieDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-2750-4781
Andy J KimDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-8544-9066
Danika DesRochesDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
Elizabeth KeysSchool of Nursing, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-0251-0720
Simon B SherryDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.ORCID 0009-0002-2325-5076
Sherry H StewartDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-3350-2712
S Hélène DeaconDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
Penny V CorkumDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-2552-4973

Funding

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council #1008-2020-0220
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic introduced various stressors for families, including changes to daily routines, work, and schooling. Studies have linked these stressors to increased mental health challenges for parents and children. Sleep difficulties were also common during the pandemic, with some children and parents experiencing poorer sleep quality and shorter sleep duration. However, it remains unclear whether the effects of COVID-19 stress on mental health challenges are explained, at least in part, by effects of COVID-19 stress on child and/or parent sleep challenges. This study examined the impacts of COVID-19 stress on sleep and, in turn, mental health difficulties in school-aged children and their parents in Canada and the United States.

methodsParents (

resultsChild sleep problems partially mediated COVID-19 stress effects on both parent (β = 0.33) and child (β = 0.20) mental health difficulties, while parent sleep problems contributed significantly but to a lesser degree (parent mental health: β = 0.07; child mental health: β = 0.03). There also remained significant direct effects of COVID-19 stress on both child and parent mental health difficulties that were not mediated through sleep difficulties.

conclusionsOur findings underscore the interconnected nature of sleep and mental health, demonstrating that stress-related disruptions in sleep (particularly children's sleep) can exacerbate mental health difficulties for both parents and children during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indexed as

COVID-19 stressfamilymental healthsleepwell-being

Identifiers

PMID40868414
PMCPMC12384653

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.