COVID-19疫情下的家庭氣氛：家長的情緒調節、焦慮與調適，以及兒童情緒經驗的關聯性

Home Atmosphere during the COVID–19 Pandemic: Associations among Parents’Emotional Regulation, Anxiety and Adjustment, and Children’s Emotional Experiences

本研究關注COVID-19疫情下兒童的情緒經驗，並援引生態系統理論的觀點探討家長情緒調節、焦慮反應與調適表現對兒童負面與正面情緒的影響。經以878筆線上疫情生活調查的家長—兒童資料進行結構方程模型分析，結果指出：(1)家長的焦慮反應與兒童較多的負面情緒有關；(2)家長的調適表現與兒童較多的正面情緒、較少的負面情緒有關；(3)家長採取反芻的情緒調節策略，會透過加劇自身焦慮反應、降低自身調適表現，進而增加兒童的負面情緒並減少兒童的正面情緒；(4)家長採取轉移注意力的情緒調節策略，會透過提升自身調適表現，進而減少兒童的負面情緒並增加兒童的正面情緒；(5)家長採取重新評估的情緒調節策略，能緩減自身的焦慮反應，且可透過提升自身調適表現，進而減少兒童的負面情緒並增加兒童的正面情緒；(6)家長採取壓抑的情緒調節策略，會加劇自身的焦慮反應；(7)家長採取與人分享的情緒調節策略，會透過加劇自身焦慮反應，進而增加兒童的負面情緒。

To understand children’s emotional experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study adopted the viewpoint of ecological systems theory and investigated the effects of parents’emotional regulation, anxiety, and adjustment on children’s negative and positive emotions. Data for a total of 878 parent-child pairs were collected from an online survey. Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted with acceptable model fit (SBχ2=156.70, df=101, p<.001, CFI=0.98, TLI=0.96, RMSEA=0.025, 90% CI of RMSEA=[0.017, 0.032], SRMR=0.019). For children’s negative emotions, the effect of parents’anxiety about the pandemic was positively significant (β=0.26, p<.001), while the effect of parents’adjustment to the pandemic was negatively significant (β=–0.20, p<.001). For children’s positive emotions, the effect of parents’adjustment was positively significant (β=0.29, p<.001), while the effect of parents’anxiety was non-significant. Parents’rumination on pandemic-induced emotions was positively related to their anxiety (γ=0.45, p<.001). The mediating effect of parents’anxiety was only significant for the path from parents’rumination to children’s negative emotion (estimate=0.12, S.E.=0.03, Sobel’s Z=3.90, p<.001, 95% CI=[0.06, 0.19]) but non-significant for the path to children’s positive emotion. Parents’rumination was negatively related to their adjustment (γ=–0.13, p=.003). The mediating effect of parents’adjustment was significant for the path from parents’rumination to children’s negative emotions (estimate=0.03, S.E.=0.01, Sobel’s Z=2.25, p=.03, 95% CI=[0.01, 0.06]) and positive ones (estimate=–0.04, S.E.=0.01, Sobel’s Z=–2.51, p=.01, 95% CI=[–0.08,–0.01]). Parents’distraction from pandemic-induced emotions was only positively related to their adjustment (γ=0.14, p<.001). The mediating effect of parents’adjustment was significant for the path from parents’distraction to children’s negative emotions (estimate=–0.03, S.E.=0.01, Sobel’s Z=–2.56, p=.01, 95% CI=[–0.06,–0.01]) and positive ones (estimate=0.04, S.E.=0.01, Sobel’s Z=2.82, p=.005, 95% CI=[0.02, 0.08]). Parents’reappraisal was negatively related to their anxiety (γ=–0.09, p=.03). However, the mediating effect of parents’anxiety was non-significant for the path from parents’reappraisal to children’s negative and positive emotions. Parents’reappraisal of pandemic-induced emotions was positively related to their adjustment (γ=0.15, p=.001). The mediating effect of parents’adjustment was significant for the path from parents’reappraisal to children’s negative emotions (estimate=–0.03, S.E.=0.01, Sobel’s Z=–2.37, p=.02, 95% CI=[–0.07,–0.01]) and positive ones (estimate=0.04, S.E.=0.02, Sobel’s Z=2.57, p=.01, 95% CI=[0.01, 0.09]). Parents’suppression was positively related to their anxiety (γ=0.08, p=.03). However, the mediating effect of parents’anxiety was non-significant for the path from parents’suppression of pandemic-induced emotions to children’s negative and positive emotions. Parents’social sharing was only positively related to their anxiety (γ=0.10, p=.002). The mediating effect of parents’anxiety was significant for the path from parents’social sharing to children’s negative emotions (estimate=0.03, S.E.=0.01, Sobel’s Z=2.49, p=.01, 95% CI=[0.01, 0.06]) but non-significant for the path to children’s positive emotions. These findings might be of importance in providing professional consultants and family life educators a better understanding of how children’s emotional experiences in stressful environments are affected by their parents’emotional regulation, anxiety, and adjustment.