Impacts of COVID-19 and partial lockdown on family functioning, intergenerational communication and associated psychosocial factors among young adults in Singapore

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1]. Since then, it has spread rapidly across the globe. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. As of 5 April 2021, the coronavirus has claimed over 2,867,019 lives across the world [2]. Major non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and lockdowns had a large effect on reducing transmissions across 11 European countries from February to May 2020 [3]. Italy is one of the worst-affected countries in Europe, NPIs such as the closure of schools and non-essential activities, and quarantine measures up to a generalised lockdown through the country were effective in flattening the curve and alleviated the pressure on the healthcare system [4, 5]. NPIs, including implementing lockdown measures, strict public health policy were effective in containing the spread of COVID-19 during the first half of 2020 in 131 countries [6]. In Singapore, the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) alert level was raised from yellow to orange on 7 February 2020, signifying that the pandemic has moderate to high public health impact [7]. In response to the rising number of community cases, the authorities declared a partial lockdown (Circuit Breaker) of the country on 7 April 2020 [8]. During the two-month long “Circuit Breaker” period, Singaporeans were advised to stay at home as much as possible. Most of the working adults adopted the work-from-home arrangement while students shifted to home-based learning. All the non-essential services were closed, and social gatherings of people who are not from the same household were prohibited. The COVID-19 pandemic has thus changed the daily lives of Singaporeans.

Being confined together allows families more time to work on unresolved issues and support one another, which could translate to better and closer relationships. Consequently, some families have emerged with stronger bonds after the “Circuit Breaker” [9]. On the other hand, the on-going pandemic and the “Circuit Breaker” measures could have negative impacts on family relationships as well [10]. For instance, family conflicts could also arise more easily as individuals were confined to their homes with their family members for an extended period of time. In those cases, the high-pressure environment of confinement might complicate existing unresolved issues and also bring about new problems [11]. Moreover, other external stressors such as financial insecurity, worries about contracting COVID-19, increased burden of care on family members and potential job loss could also contribute to an increase in disagreements and conflicts within households [12, 13]. To date, the full consequences of this ongoing pandemic and the “Circuit Breaker” measures on family functioning have yet to be understood.

Family functioning refers to the quality of interactions among family members, as well as relationships, organization, expectations and support to each other [14]. The Olson Circumplex Model [15] conceptualises family functioning as containing three dimensions of family systems: cohesion, flexibility and communication. Family cohesion refers to the emotional bonding among family members. Flexibility is defined as the amount of changes in a family’s roles, rules and leadership, while communication refers to the exchange of information among family members. Balanced levels of cohesion and flexibility are associated with healthy family functioning. On the other hand, unbalanced levels of cohesion (i.e., disengaged or enmeshed) and flexibility (i.e., rigid or chaotic) are seen as problematic for family functioning in the long run [15].

Earlier research has found a strong link between intergenerational communication and family functioning [16, 17]. Intergenerational communication refers to the way verbal and non-verbal information is exchanged between two distinct generations (e.g., parent vs. child; grandparent vs. grandchild; baby boomers vs. millennials) [18]. Such communication is important within the family as it allows members to share their concerns and needs. It is also through communication that family members establish rules, provide support and resolve any conflict in the family [19]. Previous studies revealed that the pattern of speaking and interacting between the generations could affect the well-being of the family relationship [20‐22]. Different family members have different communication styles. Early work showed that dysfunctional communication styles, which often cause resentment and misunderstanding, could lead to a breakdown in a relationship [23]. Thus, it would be interesting to examine how intergenerational communication is associated with family functioning in the context of a pandemic and partial lockdown.

Besides contributing to changes in family life, the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restriction measures also have had a profound impact on the psychological well-being of individuals [24‐27]. A recent study found that lockdown or social distancing measures could lead to feelings of loneliness in individuals due to the disruption of social life [28]. In addition, the uncertainty of the pandemic, and threats to health and financial security could also place individuals at risk for emotional distress such as anxiety and depression [29, 30]. Individuals’ negative emotions may spill over to their families, and such emotional spillover could potentially affect the quality of family interaction [31]. Likewise, a strain in family relationships could also contribute to emotional distress in individuals.

Social support and resilient coping are widely recognised protective factors against psychological distress [32, 33]. Prior studies found that social support and resilient coping were significantly associated with reduced psychological distress such as depression, anxiety and stress symptoms [34‐36]. While spending more time at home during this pandemic, family members might not be the primary source of social support for some individuals. It is possible that this pandemic and the “Circuit Breaker” have cut off individuals’ typical outlets for coping with stressors and their usual channels of support. Nevertheless, family functioning is directly associated with psychological well-being of family members [37]. However, very few studies have investigated the relationship between family functioning and psychological well-being in the context of a pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic and the related restriction measures have resulted in increased family time for most families, there is a need to expand our knowledge in relation to how this pandemic has impacted family functioning. The COVID-19 outbreak is still on-going worldwide, understanding more about the changes in family functioning and its associated psychological impacts in a pandemic would allow the authorities to provide more targeted support to families. It is yet to be known whether the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown have contributed to stronger bonds or greater conflicts in families, and what are the associated psychological impacts. As such, the current study sought to examine the factors associated with family functioning among young adults in Singapore during COVID-19 pandemic. It is hypothesized that family functioning is associated with intergenerational communication, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, loneliness, social support and resilient coping.

A total of 435 students attempted the questionnaire and 390 completed it. The mean age of the students was 21.4 years (SD = 1.9) and 115 (29.5%) of them were male. 355 (91.0%) of them were Chinese, 359 (92.1%) stayed with parents and/or grandparents during the circuit breaker and 23 (5.9%) stayed in residential hall during that period. The average daily time that they spent with the family before and during the circuit breaker was 5.6 (4.5) and 12.7 (7.7) hours respectively, increased by 7.1 (6.3) hours on average (Table 1).

Table 2 showed the mean scores for the psychosocial variables. The mean scores for the 8 subscales of FACES-IV-SF ranged from 6.9 (Chaotic) to 10.8 (Balance Cohesion) with a median of 9.1. The FACES-IV-SF score for total circumplex ratio has a mean of 1.57 (SD = 0.58), suggesting that participants generally perceived their families as functioning relatively well. The mean scores for CESD, PSS, Loneliness and Resilience Coping were 12.4 (6.2), 8.0 (2.6), 5.7 (1.9) and 12.6 (3.1) respectively. 298 (76.6%) participants scored 8 or more for CES-D, and 245 (62.9%) students scored 10 or more for CES-D. Also, 323 (83.0%) participants scored 6 or more for PSS-4, while 221 (56.8%) participants score 6 or more for the UCLA loneliness scale. 235 (60.4%) participants scored 13 or below for BRCS indicating low resilient coping. The mean scores of the 4 domains of Rev-GPIC were 21.5 (4.0) for Accommodation, 25.0 (6.7) for Non-Accommodation, 17.2 (3.3) for Respect-Obligation, and 18.9 (4.8) for Avoidant.

Table 3 shows the Pearson’s correlation coefficients between the 3 ratio scores of FACES-IV-SF and other variables, significant correlations were bold. After adjusting for the effects of the other explanatory variables, circumplex ratio is positively associated with accommodation communication (β = 0.047, 95%CI: 0.035, 0.059) and satisfaction with social support (β = 0.084, 95%CI: 0.032, 0.136), but negatively associated with non-accommodation communication (β = − 0.026, 95%CI: − 0.019, − 0.034) and avoidant communication (β = − 0.024, 95%CI: − 0.034, − 0.014). It seems that both positive perceptions of intergenerational communication and satisfaction with social support are related to more adaptive family functioning, but negative perceptions of intergenerational communication and the lack of communication between family members are linked to poor family functioning.

Specifically, cohesion ratio is positively related to accommodation communication (β = 0.064, 95%CI: 0.050, 0.078), but negatively related to non-accommodation communication (β = − 0.027, 95%CI: − 0.017, − 0.036) and avoidant communication (β = − 0.027, 95%CI: − 0.039, − 0.015). On the other hand, flexibility ratio is positively associated with difference in time spent with family before and during the “Circuit Breaker” (β = 0.013, 95%CI: 0.005, 0.021), accommodation communication (β = 0.034, 95%CI: 0.019, 0.049) and satisfaction with social support (β = 0.090, 95%CI: 0.023, 0.157), but negatively associated with depressive symptoms (β = − 0.013, 95%CI: − 0.022, − 0.004), non-accommodation communication (β = − 0.026, 95%CI: − 0.016, − 0.035), avoidant communication (β = − 0.016, 95%CI: − 0.028, − 0.003). Contrary to hypothesis, family functioning is not significantly associated with perceived stress, resilient coping, respect/ obligation communication and number of social support (Table 4).

The present study examined the associations between young adults’ perceptions of family functioning, intergenerational communication, and their reported depressive symptoms, perceived stress, loneliness, resilient coping and social support during the COVID-19 pandemic “Circuit Breaker” period in Singapore. As predicted, intergenerational communication is significantly associated with family functioning. Specifically, higher levels of accommodation communication are linked to greater family cohesion and flexibility. Conversely, higher levels of non-accommodation communication and avoidant communication are found to be related to lower family cohesion and flexibility. These results are in accordance with those from previous studies [20‐22]. Families with better intergenerational communication tend to feel closer, more flexible in resolving conflicts and more satisfied with one another, as compared to families with less effective intergenerational communication [56].

On the other hand, these findings could also be interpreted as functional families are more likely to promote more adaptive intergenerational communication, while dysfunctional families tend to maintain negative communication patterns [15]. Moreover, it was found that family functioning is not related to respect/obligation communication. This suggests that speaking respectfully to the more senior family members might have little influence on family cohesion and flexibility. In addition, research by Jackson and colleagues [16] found a positive association between problematic intergenerational communication and an escalation of family conflict. Poor communication in the family systems is likely to cause misunderstanding and arguments, and consequently, worsen relationships among family members. Hence, it is possible that adaptive intergenerational communication may strengthen family functioning, which could serve as a protective factor against psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic and the related restriction measures seem to have immediate negative impacts on the psychological well-being of university students. The results showed that about three-quarters of the participants are at risk of depression. Moreover, an alarming 83.0% of the participants reported experiencing high levels of stress. 56.8% of the participants scored 6 or higher on the UCLA loneliness scale, which shows that more than half of the participants felt lonely during the pandemic. Notably, these results are in line with findings from recent studies that investigated the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students [57‐60]. Some of the pandemic-related impacts such as disruption in daily routines, loss of social contact, financial hardship in the family, fear of death, uncertainty of the future could have contributed to psychological distress in students. Moreover, students may have older grandparents in the household who are at high risk of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder in the post-COVID-19 pandemic [5, 61]. Psychosocial support, like peer support, sharing of experiences, could promote resilience and coping strategies [5]. In addition, spiritual beliefs have been associated with higher level of hopefulness and lower level of fear, worry and sadness during the COVID-19 pandemic [62]. Spirituality is a recognised source of comfort, support and meaning for the individual, hence, spiritual resources could be an effective way of resilience to manage and cope with stressful events due to the pandemic [4].

Furthermore, the results revealed that lower family flexibility is associated with greater depressive symptoms. Families lower in flexibility are more likely to have higher levels of conflict, and this could increase the risk for depressive symptoms in individuals [63, 64]. On the other hand, more flexible families tend to communicate more openly, provide greater support and have better problem-solving ability, which might help to buffer against depressive symptoms [65, 66]. Interestingly, greater family flexibility is associated with greater differences in time spent with family before and during the “Circuit Breaker”. It could be that the increase in time spent with family during the “Circuit Breaker” created more opportunities to facilitate changes in leadership, roles and rules in the family.

In addition, the results showed that satisfaction with social support is positively related to family functioning. In particular, higher satisfaction with social support is associated with better family flexibility and more balanced family system. These associations are in line with findings from previous studies that examined families coping with stressful situations [67, 68]. One possible explanation for the observed associations is that individuals from more functional families tend to have stronger social support networks [69]. Individuals with greater satisfaction on social support tend to be better able to maintain a functional family. Furthermore, past research revealed that the quality of social support is associated with lower psychological distress [32, 34, 36]. Hence, it seems that social support may serve as a protective factor against the negative consequences of stressors such as family conflict or job losses due to the pandemic.

In summary, the results suggested that family functioning is significantly associated with intergenerational communication and satisfaction with social support in the context of a pandemic. Additionally, family flexibility is also associated with differences in time spent with family before and during the “Circuit Breaker” and depressive symptoms. It seems that young adults with balanced levels of cohesion and flexibility in their families are more likely to be able to cope with the psychological impacts of the pandemic. Nevertheless, it is important to note that there might be individual differences in responses to family processes [70]. Moreover, not everyone is affected by the pandemic and partial lockdown in the same manner. It is possible that other individual attributes, such as emotional reactivity are influencing these relations.

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown have impacted the daily lives of individuals and families in significant ways. The present study contributes to the literature by exploring the impacts of COVID-19 and the related restriction measures on family functioning and its associated factors among young adults. The current findings serve to inform intervention and preventive efforts aimed at improving family functioning and reducing the risk of psychological distress in the context of a pandemic.