Pathways to Resilience: The Parallel Change in Children’s Emotional Difficulties and Family Context During the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy

Objective: The study analyses which pathways to adjustment emerged at the family level during the COVID-19 containment period in Italy, during which children were locked down with their families for 56 days from March 11 to May 6. Using a longitudinal design, with data pre and postevent, a bivariate latent change score model analyzed the covariance of the change in family well-being (FW) and in emotional difficulties (ED), testing if the longitudinal change in ED is a function of the starting level of FW, and vice-versa. Children’s stress reactions to the pandemic and other related experiences were included as additional predictors. Method: A total of 166 middle school students (86 females) with a mean age of 11.14 (SD =.47) completed two online questionnaires, in January 2020 (T0) and in June 2020 (T1). Results: Results showed that children’s ED decreased significantly, on average, during the lockdown period, and FW remained constant. ED and FW change scores had a significant and negative covariation (β = -.46; p =.01). When family well-being increased emotional difficulties decreased, and vice versa. FW at T0 predicted no change in FW, nor did T0 scores of ED predict any change in FW. Conclusions: The strong intercorrelated change between children’s ED and FW during the lockdown does not seem influenced by preexisting levels of individual and family functioning. Findings supported the view that for some families, the COVID-19 lockdown was also an opportunity to experience deeper emotional connections, contributing to a decrease in ED