Family functioning and mental wellbeing impairment during initial quarantining for the COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Canadian families

Quarantine measures imposed due to COVID-19 have negatively impacted individual wellbeing. However, the research on the factors impacting mental health and functioning of families is limited. The current study explores socio-economic and demographic factors that mediate poor family functioning, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in response to quarantine measures in Canadian parents and children. 254 Canadian families completed an online questionnaire capturing demographic information and mental wellbeing of individuals and of the whole family. Family functioning was assessed using the Family Assessment Device General Functioning subscale (FAD-GF), and individual mental wellbeing was measured with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder screener (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Generalized linear models and logistic regression were used to model socio-demographic impacts on outcome variables. Problematic family functioning was found in 78.5% of families with a high proportion of parents reporting above-threshold symptoms of anxiety (62.9%) and depression (73.4%). Many children also reported above-threshold symptoms of anxiety (54.6%) and depression (70.7%). Family functioning was impacted by parent and child age, parental employment status and pre-existing conditions for children. Anxiety and depression experienced by parents and children was increased in families with parents aged <45, household income<$100,000 pre-existing psychiatric conditions, or having a child aged >5 years. These findings show that most Canadian families observed in this study experienced above threshold symptoms of anxiety, depression and poor family functioning. Our study provides an initial step towards identifying characteristics of at-risk families and targeting interventions to mediate negative effects of quarantining.