Correlates and Influences of Chinese Parental Communication About the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Moderating Role of Parental Burnout

Despite evidence that parental communication about COVID-19 can have short-term benefits such as adolescents' increased health behaviors, less is known about the potential long-term associations between such communication and adolescent adjustment, as well as the family characteristics that facilitate such communication. Moreover, it is important to examine such processes beyond Western societies and broaden the understanding of parental communication in non-Western societies. To fill these gaps in the literature, a two-wave longitudinal study on Chinese families spanning 1 year during the pandemic (July 2020-July 2021) was conducted. Analyses revealed that the relation between parent-adolescent closeness and parental communication about COVID-19 was moderated by parental burnout. Higher parent-adolescent closeness was linked with more communication about COVID-19 only when parents experienced low, but not high, parental burnout. Moreover, the longitudinal associations between parental communication about COVID-19 and adolescent adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and resilience) 1 year later were also moderated by parental burnout. More parental communication about COVID-19 was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and higher levels of resilience 1 year later only when parents experienced low, but not high, parental burnout. Findings suggest future interventions to target family communication to promote adolescent well-being during challenging times, especially for families who experience higher levels of parental burnout.