Home-based parent involvement and Latinx children’s social-emotional competence as a function of the COVID-19 pandemic

Parent involvement in education is defined as the allocation of familial resources towards activities that promote children’s learning and development and is thought to be an important contributor to the children’s development of school readiness in early childhood (Fantuzzo et al., 2000). Social-emotional competence is a keystone component of school readiness as it supports growth in other domains and predicts future outcomes for children (Domitrovich, et al., 2017). COVID-19 and the stay-at-home orders of 2020 disrupted schooling and inherently changed the nature of parent involvement in children’s education. This study examines the impact of time on parent involvement and tests whether caregiver-reported COVID-19-related distress predicts changes in parent involvement and children’s social-emotional competence. Data comes from a community sample of caregivers (N = 232) assessed at four timepoints from Fall 2019 to Summer 2021, starting when their children enrolled in prekindergarten. Growth curve modeling was used to identify changes in parent involvement across time and identify effects of caregiver-reported COVID-19-related distress. Mediation analysis was used to identify effects of caregiver-reported COVID-19-related distress on children’s social-emotional competence through parent involvement behaviors. Results indicate high levels of parent involvement throughout the study, with limited significant changes across time. COVID-19-related distress did not predict changes in parent involvement or children’s social-emotional competence. Limitations and future directions are discussed.