How COVID-19 Precautions Impact Family Functioning 6 Widespread COVID-19 disease prevention and containment procedures have resulted in major shifts in family dynamics. Virtual educational and professional obligations have required the reconfiguration of homes, new systems for engaging with relatives, and in some circumstances, new tensions. A recent study conducted by Mark E. Feinberg and colleagues published in Family Process compares various features of family functioning before and during the pandemic in people in the United States to provide some insight into how these families were impacted. “This is the first study of which we are aware that examined the magnitude of change in parent, child, and family mental health and adjustment from before to the pandemic period,” they write. “By examining within-individual change, our approach overcomes major methodological weaknesses in other reports. Our results provide evidence of a large deterioration in parent and child mental and behavioral health during the first months of the pandemic.”