Economic hardship and children's cognitive outcomes during COVID-19: The Family Stress Model and the compensatory role of family cohesion.

The COVID-19 pandemic was uniquely challenging for families with early elementary-aged children, due to the dual pressures of managing children's disrupted schooling while maintaining financial stability amid job disruptions. This longitudinal, preregistered study combines the Family Stress Model with Masten's Developmental Systems Resilience Framework to examine how economic hardship during the early months of the pandemic was associated with children's directly assessed cognitive skills 2-3 years later in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 249 parent-child dyads via financial stress, parental mental health symptoms, and autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting behaviors. Additionally, we tested direct associations between family cohesion and children's cognitive skills to investigate whether family cohesion served as a compensatory factor. Results partially supported the Family Stress Model, showing that economic hardship was associated with higher financial stress, which in turn was associated with heightened depressive and anxiety symptoms. Although parents' mental health challenges did not mediate the link between economic stress and parenting behaviors, lower household income was directly associated with less autonomy-supportive parenting observed during a homework help task. Autonomy-supportive parenting was linked to higher executive functions in children, whereas controlling parenting was linked to lower math and receptive vocabulary skills a year later. Importantly, family cohesion served as a compensatory factor, supporting children's executive function and receptive vocabulary skills. These findings highlight the critical role of family cohesion for children's cognitive development during periods of disruption, emphasizing the importance of close family interactions for fostering resilience in children amid adversity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).