Parents' Perceptions of COVID-19 Disparities Revealed in New Research

A study published in PLOS One has shed light on how parents discuss health disparities, including COVID-19, with their children. Research conducted by the University of California found that parents are more likely to talk about age disparities than racial or social class disparities, with older children and parents holding stronger racial essentialist beliefs being more likely to discuss racial disparities. The study also revealed that parents' own beliefs about the existence and causes of disparities, as well as their attitudes toward affected groups, play a significant role in determining whether they discuss these topics with their children.

Key Takeaways:

• The COVID-19 pandemic revealed substantial health disparities, disproportionately impacting Black individuals, individuals of lower socioeconomic status, and older adults in the US.
• Parents are more likely to discuss age disparities than racial or social class disparities with their children.
• Parents of older children reported being more likely to discuss racial and age disparities than parents of younger children.
• Parents' own beliefs about the existence and causes of disparities, as well as their attitudes toward affected groups, predict the likelihood that they will discuss these topics with their children.
• Ordinal logistic regressions revealed that parents reported they would discuss the race disparity significantly more when they held stronger racial essentialist beliefs, held stronger racial social constructionist beliefs, and perceived Black people as warmer and less competent.
• Parents also reported that they would discuss the social class disparity significantly more when they held stronger essentialist beliefs about social class.
• Qualitative coding revealed that parents' potential explanations for the disparity and reasons to discuss the disparities (or not) with their children differed by dimension.

Statistics:

• 443 parents participated in the study, with 61% identifying as White.
• 61% of parents reported that they would discuss the age disparity with their children, compared to 45% for racial disparities and 38% for social class disparities.
• Parents who held stronger racial essentialist beliefs (57%) were more likely to discuss racial disparities than those who held weaker essentialist beliefs (21%).
• Parents who perceived Black people as warmer and less competent (54%) were also more likely to discuss racial disparities than those who did not (16%).

Sources:

• Who gets sicker and why? Parents' perceptions of COVID-19 disparities and how they would explain them to their children. PLOS One, 2025;20(10).
• Public Library of Science, 1160 Battery Street, Ste 100, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA. (Public Library of Science - www.plos.org; PLOS One - www.plosone.org)
• University of California, Santa Cruz, California, United States.