Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 Lockdowns
The coronavirus pandemic poses a substantial threat to people across the globe. In the first half of 2020, governments limited the spread of virus by imposing diverse regulations. These regulations had a particular impact on families as parents had to manage their occupational situation and childcar...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645266/full |
| _version_ | 1831760872215674880 |
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| author | Theo Toppe Roman Stengelin Roman Stengelin Louisa S. Schmidt Naiera Amini Nils Schuhmacher |
| author_facet | Theo Toppe Roman Stengelin Roman Stengelin Louisa S. Schmidt Naiera Amini Nils Schuhmacher |
| author_sort | Theo Toppe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The coronavirus pandemic poses a substantial threat to people across the globe. In the first half of 2020, governments limited the spread of virus by imposing diverse regulations. These regulations had a particular impact on families as parents had to manage their occupational situation and childcare in parallel. Here, we examine a variation in parents' and children's stress during the lockdowns in the first half of 2020 and detect the correlates of families' stress. Between April and June 2020, we conducted an explorative online survey among n = 422 parents of 3- to 10-year-old children residing in 17 countries. Most participants came from Germany (n = 274), Iran (n = 70), UK (n = 23), and USA (n = 23). Parents estimated their own stress, the stress of their own children, and various information on potential correlates (e.g., accommodation, family constellation, education, community size, playtime for children, contact with peers, media consumption, and physical activity). Parents also stated personal values regarding openness to change, self-transcendence, self-enhancement, and conservation. The results indicate a substantial variation in the stress levels of families and their diverse reactions to regulations. Media consumption by children commonly increased in comparison to the time before the pandemic. Parents raising both pre-school- and school-aged children were at a particular risk of experiencing stress in response to regulations. Estimated stress and reactions varied with the age of children and the personal values of parents, suggesting that such variables need to be considered when implementing and evaluating regulations and supporting young families in the current and future pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:38:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6800f1e604c449dfa002270bcdb8cbfb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:38:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6800f1e604c449dfa002270bcdb8cbfb2022-12-21T18:38:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-09-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.645266645266Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 LockdownsTheo Toppe0Roman Stengelin1Roman Stengelin2Louisa S. Schmidt3Naiera Amini4Nils Schuhmacher5Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, GermanyLeipzig Research Center for Early Child Development, Department of Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, GermanyThe coronavirus pandemic poses a substantial threat to people across the globe. In the first half of 2020, governments limited the spread of virus by imposing diverse regulations. These regulations had a particular impact on families as parents had to manage their occupational situation and childcare in parallel. Here, we examine a variation in parents' and children's stress during the lockdowns in the first half of 2020 and detect the correlates of families' stress. Between April and June 2020, we conducted an explorative online survey among n = 422 parents of 3- to 10-year-old children residing in 17 countries. Most participants came from Germany (n = 274), Iran (n = 70), UK (n = 23), and USA (n = 23). Parents estimated their own stress, the stress of their own children, and various information on potential correlates (e.g., accommodation, family constellation, education, community size, playtime for children, contact with peers, media consumption, and physical activity). Parents also stated personal values regarding openness to change, self-transcendence, self-enhancement, and conservation. The results indicate a substantial variation in the stress levels of families and their diverse reactions to regulations. Media consumption by children commonly increased in comparison to the time before the pandemic. Parents raising both pre-school- and school-aged children were at a particular risk of experiencing stress in response to regulations. Estimated stress and reactions varied with the age of children and the personal values of parents, suggesting that such variables need to be considered when implementing and evaluating regulations and supporting young families in the current and future pandemic.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645266/fullCOVID-19lockdownstressfamilyparentschildren |
| spellingShingle | Theo Toppe Roman Stengelin Roman Stengelin Louisa S. Schmidt Naiera Amini Nils Schuhmacher Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 Lockdowns Frontiers in Psychology COVID-19 lockdown stress family parents children |
| title | Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 Lockdowns |
| title_full | Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 Lockdowns |
| title_fullStr | Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 Lockdowns |
| title_full_unstemmed | Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 Lockdowns |
| title_short | Explaining Variation in Parents' and Their Children's Stress During COVID-19 Lockdowns |
| title_sort | explaining variation in parents and their children s stress during covid 19 lockdowns |
| topic | COVID-19 lockdown stress family parents children |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645266/full |
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