Changes and predictors of adolescent emotion regulation, self-esteem, and locus of control during the COVID-19 pandemic: 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort

Maruyama, Jessica Mayumi; Tovo-Rodrigues, Luciana; Santos, Iná S.; Murray, Joseph; Matijasevich, Alicia

doi:10.47626/1516-4446-2023-3169

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Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE • Braz J Psychiatry 45 (5) • Sep-Oct 2023 • https://doi.org/10.47626/1516-4446-2023-3169 copy

Changes and predictors of adolescent emotion regulation, self-esteem, and locus of control during the COVID-19 pandemic: 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Objectives:

There is growing interest in examining the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on adolescent socioemotional development. This study aimed to examine changes in adolescent emotion regulation (ER), self-esteem (SE), and locus of control (LoC) from before to during the pandemic in a Brazilian birth cohort, and to investigate the variables associated with changes in those socioemotional competences.

Methods:

1,949 adolescents from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort were assessed before (T₁, November 2019 to March 2020) and during (T₂, August to December 2021) the COVID-19 pandemic (mean ages [SD] = 15.69 [0.19] and 17.41 [0.26], respectively). Adolescents’ socioemotional competences were assessed, including ER, SE, and LoC. Sociodemographic, pre-pandemic, and pandemic-related correlates were examined as predictors of change. Multivariate latent change score models were used in the analyses.

Results:

There were significant mean increases in adolescents’ ER and SE (mean ER = 1.918, p < 0.001; mean SE = 1.561, p = 0.001) and a significant mean decrease (towards internalization) in LoC levels (MLoC = -0.497, p < 0.01) during the pandemic. Factors that predicted a lower competency increase included family conflicts, harsh parenting, and maternal depressive symptoms during the pandemic.

Conclusion:

Despite the stress imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adolescents of this cohort showed positive development in their socioemotional competences. Family-related factors emerged as important predictors of adolescent socioemotional adjustment during the study period.

Adolescent; emotion regulation; socioemotional competences; COVID-19 pandemic; cohort

Variables	Cohort members not included in the study (n = 2,210)	T₁ (n = 2,021)	T₂ (n = 1,805)
Family income (quintiles)
1st quintile (poorest)	497 (22.5)^* * p < 0.05 for the difference between the pre-pandemic sample (T1; n = 2,021) and the sample not included in the current study (n = 2,210). There were no statistically differences in socioeconomic variables between the pre-pandemic (T1) and mid-pandemic (T2) samples.	374 (18.5)	327 (18.1)
2nd to 5th quintile	1,713 (77.5)	1,647 (81.5)	1,478 (81.9)
Maternal schooling (years)
0-4	373 (17.1)^* * p < 0.05 for the difference between the pre-pandemic sample (T1; n = 2,021) and the sample not included in the current study (n = 2,210). There were no statistically differences in socioeconomic variables between the pre-pandemic (T1) and mid-pandemic (T2) samples.	281 (14.0)	254 (14.2)
5-8	915 (42.0)	816 (40.7)	719 (40.1)
≥ 9	892 (40.9)	909 (45.3)	818 (45.7)
Maternal skin color
White	1,599 (72.4)	1,489 (73.7)	1,325 (73.4)
Non-white	609 (27.6)	532 (26.3)	480 (26.6)
Living with a partner at childbirth
Yes	1,818 (82.3)^* * p < 0.05 for the difference between the pre-pandemic sample (T1; n = 2,021) and the sample not included in the current study (n = 2,210). There were no statistically differences in socioeconomic variables between the pre-pandemic (T1) and mid-pandemic (T2) samples.	1,718 (85.0)	1,533 (84.9)
No	390 (17.7)	303 (15.0)	272 (15.1)
Adolescent’s sex
Male	1,161 (52.5)	1,034 (51.2)	917 (50.8)
Female	1,049 (47.5)	987 (48.1)	888 (49.2)
Adolescent’s age
Mean (SD)	-	15.69 (0.2)	17.41 (0.3)
Range		15.01-16.15	16.7-17.9

	LCS; T₁-T₂		Individual variance		Proportional change
Score	M_slope (S.E.)	p-value	σ²	p-value	β (S.E.)	p-value
ER	1.918 (0.145)	< 0.001	0.939	< 0.001	-0.437 (0.023)	< 0.001
SE	1.561 (0.094)	< 0.001	0.945	< 0.001	-0.438 (0.022)	< 0.001
LoC	-0.487 (0.045)	< 0.001	0.980	< 0.001	-0.573 (0.017)	< 0.001

	ER		SE		LoC
	T1	LCS	T1	LCS	T1	LCS
Demographic and pre-pandemic predictors
Maternal schooling (years)	0.044 (0.025)^* * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-0.009 (0.027)	0.041 (0.026)	0.005 (0.028)	-0.492 (0.027)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	0.012 (0.029)
Family income (quintiles)	0.088 (0.026)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	0.008 (0.027)	0.081 (0.026)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-0.035 (0.028)	-0.103 (0.026)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	0.014 (0.029)
Marital statis: single	0.020 (0.022)	0.014 (0.024)	0.032 (0.021)	0.012 (0.025)	-0.012 (0.025)	0.018 (0.027)
Skin color: Black/brown	-0.025 (0.022)	0.019 (0.025)	0.032 (0.022)	-0.036 (0.024)	0.045 (0.023)^* * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	0.002 (0.026)
Sex: Female	-0.217 (0.021)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	0.021 (0.024)	-0.243 (0.021)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	0.053 (0.024)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-0.018 (0.022)	0.030 (0.024)
Maternal depressive symptoms at T1	-0.110 (0.022)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	0.036 (0.031)	-0.089 (0.023)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-0.033 (0.032)	0.096 (0.022)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-0.060 (0.032)^* * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.
Pandemic-related predictors
Maternal depressive symptoms at T2	-	-0.094 (0.028)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	-0.086 (0.030)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	0.001 (0.028)
Beneficiary of pandemic-specific government cash transfer program^† † Programa Auxílio Brasil.	-	-0.002 (0.023)	-	-0.007 (0.022)	-	-0.016 (0.021)
Maternal job loss	-	0.007 (0.021)	-	0.056 (0.021)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	0.013 (0.020)
Fear of food shortage	-	-0.040 (0.025)^* * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	-0.021 (0.024)	-	0.044 (0.030)
Harsh parenting	-	-0.103 (0.023)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	-0.006 (0.022)	-	0.064 (0.021)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.
More perceived impacts of the pandemic	-	-0.038 (0.023)^* * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	-0.063 (0.022)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	-0.014 (0.022)
More social isolation	-	0.031 (0.022)	-	-0.037 (0.020)^* * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	-0.003 (0.020)
Fear of getting sick	-	-0.011 (0.024)	-	0.019 (0.024)	-	0.038 (0.022)^* * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.
Family conflicts	-	-0.146 (0.024)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	-0.142 (0.023)^*** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	0.081 (0.024)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.
Negative perception of screentime	-	-0.031 (0.023)	-	-0.064 (0.022)^** * p < 0.10; p < 0.05; * p < 0.001.	-	0.006 (0.023)

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[1] Correspondence: Jessica Mayumi Maruyama, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455, 2° andar, CEP 01246-903, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. E-mail: jessica.mmaruyama@gmail.com