Date of Graduation
Fall 2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD)
Department
Psychology
Committee Chairperson
Ellie D. Brown, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Stevie Grassetti, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Jodi B. A. McKibben, Ph.D.
Abstract
This study examined family routines and child emotion regulation across pre-pandemic and pandemic/post-pandemic periods among families facing economic hardship. Participants were 187 children enrolled in Head Start preschools near the East Coast of the United States, their caregivers, and teachers. Of these families, 131 participated during the 2015–2016 through 2018–2019 pre-pandemic school years, and 56 participated during the 2019–2020 through 2022 2023 pandemic/post-pandemic school years. Caregivers completed a demographic interview and 10 daily interviews across two weeks assessing family routines. Teachers completed a validated measure of child emotion regulation. MANCOVAs examined cohort differences in routines and emotion regulation. Hierarchical regressions tested whether selected routines predicted end-of year negative emotion regulation and whether pandemic cohort moderated these relations. Pandemic/post-pandemic families spent more time at home together, reported bedtime routines more frequently, and were less likely to report that children fell asleep alone. Average bedtime and television use at bedtime did not differ significantly across cohorts. At the end of the school year, children in the pandemic/post-pandemic cohort demonstrated fewer positive emotion regulation problems but greater negative emotion regulation problems. After accounting for start of-year emotion regulation and demographic covariates, neither time spent at home together nor intentionally changing plans independently predicted end-of-year negative emotion regulation. The pandemic cohort did not moderate these relations. Findings indicate that family routines and child emotion regulation differed across the pandemic transition, although specific routines did not independently explain later negative emotion regulation
Final Version Confirmation
1
Recommended Citation
Stovall, Shanelle L. and Brown, Eleanor D., "Daily Routines and Activities in Association with Emotion Regulation for Children Facing Economic Hardship and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2026). West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects. 116.
https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/all_capstones/116