Mental Health Among Parents of Children Aged &lt;18 Years and Unpaid Caregivers of Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, December 2020 and February–⁠March 2021
Authors: Mark É. Czeisler, Elizabeth A. Rohan, Stephanie Melillo, Jennifer L. Matjasko, Lara DePadilla, Chirag G. Patel, Matthew D. Weaver, Alexandra Drane, Sarah S. Winnay, Emily R. Capodilupo, Rebecca Robbins, Joshua F. Wiley, Elise R. Facer-Childs, Laura K. Barger, Charles A. Czeisler, Mark E. Howard, Shantha M.W. Rajaratnam
Journal: MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2021)

Early during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly two thirds of unpaid caregivers of adults reported adverse mental or behavioral health symptoms, compared with approximately one third of noncaregivers † (1).In addition, 27% of parents of children aged <18 years reported that their mental health had worsened during the pandemic (2).To examine mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among U.S. adults on the basis of their classification as having a parenting role (i.e., unpaid persons caring for children and adolescents aged <18 years, referred to as children in this report) or being an unpaid caregiver of adults (i.e., persons caring for adults aged ≥18 years), § CDC analyzed data from cross-sectional surveys that were administered during December 2020 and February-March 2021 for The COVID-19 Outbreak Public Evaluation (COPE) Initiative.¶ Respondents were categorized as parents only, caregivers of adults only, parents-caregivers (persons in both roles), or nonparents/noncaregivers (persons in neither role).Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for any adverse mental health symptoms, particularly suicidal ideation, were higher among all respondents who were parents, caregivers of adults, or both compared with respondents who were nonparents/ noncaregivers and were highest among persons in both roles * These authors contributed equally to this report.† https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.02.21251042v1 § Parents and unpaid caregivers of adults were self-identified.Parents were defined as persons who had provided unpaid care to relatives or friends aged <18 years to help them take care of themselves at any time during the last 3 months.Unpaid caregivers of adults were defined as persons who had provided unpaid care to relatives or friends aged ≥18 years to help them take care of themselves at any time during the last 3 months.Respondents answered questions about these two roles separately.Respondents were categorized as parents only, caregivers of adults only, parents-caregivers (persons in both roles), or nonparents/noncaregivers.Whether adults who reported they were in parenting roles were biologic or legal parents or guardians of the children for whom they were providing care is not known, nor is it known whether adults were legal dependents of their caregivers.¶ The COPE Initiative (https://www.thecopeinitiative.org/) is designed to assess public attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate the mental and physical health consequences of the pandemic.The COPE Initiative surveys included in this analysis were administered by Qualtrics, LLC (https://www.qualtrics.com), a commercial survey company with a network of participant pools comprising hundreds of suppliers and with varying recruitment methodologies that include digital advertisements and promotions, word-of-mouth and membership referrals, social networks, television and radio advertisements, and offline mail-based approaches.