Child and caregiver mental health during 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: findings from national repeated cross-sectional surveys

Background

There are calls for research into the mental health consequences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia’s initial, effective suppression of COVID-19 offers insights into these indirect impacts in the relative absence of the disease. We aimed to describe the mental health experiences of Australian caregivers and children over 12 months, reporting differences related to demographic, socioeconomic and lockdown characteristics.

Methods

Data were from Australia’s only nationally representative, repeated cross-sectional survey of caregivers with children (0-17 years). N=2020 caregivers participated in June 2020, N=1434 in September 2020, and N=2508 in July 2021. Caregivers reported their mental health (poor versus not, Kessler-6), and perceived impacts of the pandemic on theirs and their children’s mental health (negative versus none/positive). Data were weighted to approximate population distributions of caregiver age, gender, sole-caregiving, number and ages of children, state/territory and neighbourhood-level disadvantage.

Results

Perceived impacts on mental health were more frequently negative for female (versus male) caregivers and older (versus younger) children. Poor caregiver mental health (K6) was more common for families experiencing socioeconomic adversity (especially financial), while perceived impacts were more frequently negative for more socially advantaged groups. Caregivers who experienced the least total lockdown reported similar K6 over time. Otherwise, poor mental health and perceived negative impacts increased over time with increasing total length of lockdown.

Conclusion

Despite Australia’s low infection rates, the negative mental health experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic are real and concerning. Addressing poor mental health must be central to ongoing pandemic recovery efforts for families and children.

What is known about this topic?

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  The global evidence shows that, for general adult populations, psychological distress peaked in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic before appearing to improve.

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  Less is known about mental health over time of living through the pandemic, especially for caregivers and children. There are urgent calls for research.

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  Due to low infection rates, Australia’s experience can provide insight into the mental health impacts of lockdown with minimal compounding harms of the virus.

What this study adds

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  From June 2020 to July 2021, Australia’s lockdowns were detrimental for caregiver and child mental health.

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  Negative mental health experiences differed by caregiver gender, child age and family socioeconomic characteristics.

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  Pandemic response and recovery planning must consider both family mental health and socioeconomic security.