Parents of children with congenital heart defects during the COVID-19 pandemic: An examination of mental health variables, risk factors, and protective factors.

Participants were recruited from CHD parent support groups and snowball networks, so they were mostly mothers, married, white, non-Hispanic, and caring for a child with complex CHD; this says little about fathers, single parents, racially diverse families, or families without support-group access. The study measured anxiety, depression, stress, resilience, and support at one time point by self-report, so it cannot show that low resilience caused poor mental health or that support would improve symptoms. The analysed sample was 127 of 175 recruited, and parents of children who had died, had a heart transplant, or were on ECMO were excluded, so the most distressed or bereaved families may not be represented. The COVID-19 and CHD care surveys were developed by the study team and were not validated in this population, so some risk-factor findings may depend on the wording of those measures.

The research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Do not read this as evidence that resilience or support caused better mental health, or that a resilience programme would help. The study was a one-time online survey of mostly mothers from CHD support groups, and it reported associations, not tested interventions.