When She Worries I Worry too: COVID-19 Worries in the Context of Daughters’ and Mothers’ Relations

Abstract

We examined the extent to which a daughter’s worries are related to her mother’s perceived worries about COVID-19 (i.e., the daughter’s perception of her mother’s worries). Regard, defined as reciprocity, closeness or compatibility, and responsibility, defined as guilt, burden and protectiveness, were measured as potential moderators of the relationship between the daughter’s worries and her mother’s perceived worries. A convenience sample of 438 women between the ages of 30 and 60 completed an online survey. We found a significant correlation between daughters’ and mothers’ perceived COVID-19 worries. This association was moderated by the daughters’ regard. For those daughters that characterized their relations as high on regard, higher levels of COVID-19 worries were associated with higher levels of perceived worries among mothers. The importance of considering the relationships between daughters and mothers, during the pandemic is discussed.