Investigating Adolescent Distress during COVID-19: The Interplay of Exposure to Stressful Events, Caregiver Distress, and Expressive Flexibility

Family adversity may induce child distress directly as well as indirectly through caregiver distress. In families exposed to COVID-related stressors, we found that expressive flexibility protected against adolescent distress. Specifically, adolescent flexibility moderated the direct effect of COVID stress, and caregiver flexibility moderated the indirect path through caregiver distress.