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Routines can be essential for positive family functioning, such as maintaining daily school routines, participating in after-school activities, sharing mealtimes with family members, and getting adequate sleep. But, sometimes routines are disrupted, which can cause feelings of anxiety, stress, and insecurity (Spagnola & Fiese, 2007; Yoon, 2014).

The current national crisis surrounding the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has forced schools, gyms, and non-essential businesses to close and events to be cancelled in response to the pandemic. These changes can greatly impact individual and family daily routines (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020) and upset individual family members.

Adjustments to a daily routine can cause youth to experience sadness, to focus heavily on the details of the pandemic or avoid them all together, to encounter trouble concentrating, to become overwhelmed with emotions, to have difficulty setting priorities, to encounter conflict with family members and friends, to develop a loss of interest in activities, to become detached, and to experience problems sleeping and changes in appetite (CDC, 2018; CDC, 2019; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration [SAMHSA], 2013).

Below are some tips to help yourself and your children process changes that have occurred in our daily lives and remain healthy – mentally and physically.

Remain calm. Be mindful of your transmission of stress and anxiety relating to COVID-19 because children, especially younger children, can pick up on mood changes very quickly (Beyondblue, 2013). Children look at their parents as role models and try to imitate their parents’ behaviors.  Remember calm breeds calm. If you respond with anxiety, there is an increased likelihood your children will exhibit similar behaviors (Burnstein & Ginsburg, 2010). If you feel overwhelmed, take 10 deep breaths. Observe your child’s body language and verbal cues; these signals may show you if he or she is upset or how distressed he or she may be. Validate your child’s concerns and strategize solutions together (Shin, Quinones-Camacho, Karan, & Davis, 2018).

Ensure basic essentials are met.  Remind your family of the efforts that your family has already made to prepare for this pandemic, such as buying larger quantities of food items for later use; ensuring you have reliable transportation; and discussing some precautions, like washing hands frequently and using hand sanitizers, you are following. Share and develop a plan to have in place if one of your family members becomes infected (CDC, 2019).

Provide factual information to children. In an age-appropriate way, explain to your children the facts using reliable resources provided by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Limit exposure of information about the virus via the television, internet, and social media, and beware of the false information your children can be exposed to by their peers. Keep in mind that, during difficult situations, episodic depression and anxiety could pop up in your home (Kessler, Petukhova, Sampson, Zaslavsky, & Wittchen, 2012). Encourage your children to ask questions and continue to reassure them you are taking preventative measures to ensure everyone’s safety (SAMSHA, 2020).

Look for indicators in children.  Stress stems from a perception of fear. Fear of the unknown can be extremely complex (Carleton, 2016), and it is often coupled with anxiety and stress. For more information on warning signs for children and teenagers with depression, consult the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019).

Mitigate Stress and Anxiety. Research has shown that preventative interventions to reduce externalizing and internalizing problems can increase positive family interactions (Sadler, Ingram, Wolchik, Tein, & Winslow, E., 2015). We are all maintaining close living situations during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Below are some ideas for how you can mitigate stress and anxiety in your household (Dillon, 2018; Edwards, 2016).

• Boost positive behaviors by establishing a new daily routine.
• Eat healthy meals together.
• Continue to engage in 60 minutes of physical activity. The 60 minutes can be broken up into shorter blocks of time (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018).
• Practice active listening to your children’s concerns.
• Ensure everyone is getting enough rest.
• Schedule breaks to relax, listen to music, and read, or find something that makes you laugh.
• Use communication media to continue social interaction with family and friends.
• Consider using mindfulness meditation. Insight Timer is a free application with guided meditation.