The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many facets of people’s lives. We examined relations between harsh and neglectful parenting and child behavior problems with COVID-19 life events as a moderator. In our study, mothers with children ages 2 through 6 years self-reported their harsh and neglectful parenting behaviors, child behavior problems, and COVID-19 life events in numerous domains. We hypothesized that a positive relation between harsh and neglectful parenting and child behavior problems would be exacerbated by a greater number of COVID-19 life events. A linear regression model in R revealed a significant interaction between harsh and neglectful parenting and potentially stressful COVID-19 life events in association with child behavior problems. A positive relationship between harsh and neglectful parenting and child behavior problems was found at all COVID-19 levels (low, average, high). Additionally, parents who experienced greater numbers of COVID-19 life events and utilized more harsh and neglectful parenting practices reported significantly more child behavior problems compared to parents who experienced less COVID-19 life events.
