JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged families, youth, and frontline workers, including childcare providers. Studying lived experiences before, during, and nearing the end of the pandemic from multiple perspectives provides a more holistic and deeper understanding of its effects and impacts.

Objective:

This study investigated how parental, childcare provider, and youth stress, mental health, and role overload relate to individual coping and family functioning as well as vaccine attitude and uptake patterns among youth, parents, and childcare providers. Information learned from this investigation will inform policy and messaging for future public health crises.

Methods:

This study is an explanatory sequential mixed methods study designed to capture the voices of parents of children under age 18, childcare providers, and youth ages 12-17 through surveys and interviews. This retrospective cross-sectional study began with an online survey, including demographic questions, standardized and validated scales to assess constructs of interest, and open-ended responses about pandemic experiences. A subsample of parents, youth, and childcare providers were selected for in-depth interviews about their pandemic-related experiences.

Results:

A total of 506 adults and 93 youth answered a study survey and 45 adults and 21 youth completed in-depth interviews. Among the 506 adults, 166 were childcare providers. The adult sample had a mean age of 42.8 years (SD = 9.15) and was predominantly female (92.3%), with 9.7% identifying as Black, 4.7% as Hispanic, and 81.2% being parents of children 17 years of age or younger. The youth sample had a mean age of 14.5 years (SD = 1.63) and 55.9% were female, 6.4% were Black, and 17.2% were Hispanic. Several dyads and triads participated. The sample included 42 parent-child dyads, 3 parent-parent dyads, 2 parent-parent-child triads, and 21 parent-child-child triads.

Conclusions:

These data will be used to understand the diverse experiences of families, youth, and childcare providers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes both the successful and unsuccessful adaptations, responses to policies and mandates, and the unmet needs for health messaging, programs, policies, and services. This research aims to guide the development of effective policies and public health communication, fostering scalable and sustainable resources for messaging.