Interrelated changes in parental stress, parenting, and coparenting across the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Parental stress is a known risk factor for coercive parenting and for lower coparenting quality. In the present study, we examined whether and how changes in parental stress of mothers and fathers from the pre-COVID-19 period (T1) into the height of the first lockdown in the Netherlands (T2) were linked to changes in coercive parenting of mothers and fathers and to changes in coparenting quality. A total of 96 families (46.9% lower or medium and 53.1% higher educational background), with mother, father, and child (53.1% girls; T1: M age = 3.44 years, SD = 0.32; T2: M age = 4.72 years, SD = 0.61) participated. To examine interrelations between parental stress (reported using the Parental Stress Scale), coparenting, and coercive parenting (both reported using the Parenting And Family Adjustment Scales), a multivariate Latent Change Score (LCS) model was employed. Higher initial levels of parental stress were associated with higher initial levels of coercive parenting and lower initial levels of coparenting quality. Similarly, stronger increases in parental stress were associated with stronger increases in coercive parenting and with stronger decreases in coparenting quality. Directions of associations and effect sizes were similar for mothers and fathers in all analyses. The results from the present study indicate the importance of a family systems perspective in prevention and intervention programs. Promotion of systematic family-based preventive and intervention activities by the government might support families during challenging times, as during the novel COVID-19 pandemic.

Love in the time of COVID‐19: A systematic mapping review of empirical research on romantic relationships one year into the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…First, couples’ daily routine itself had to change with increased childcare responsibilities that put extra pressure on partners who were also parents (Brown et al, 2020 ). In such families, partners had to manage their co‐parenting (Lucassen et al, 2021 ) and adjust to conditions where children studied from home (Lee et al, 2021 ). Second, many couples experienced changes in financial conditions, including reduces in the family income (Prime et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ).…”

Associations of parenting daily hassles with parents’ mental health during the COVID-19 school closure

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that social support, particularly family support, protects individuals' mental health both directly and as a buffer for pandemic-related stress (Brown et al, 2020 ; Li and Xu, 2022 ; Szkody et al, 2021 ). Some studies also indicated that more supportive co-parenting is associated with less parental stress ( Giannotti et al, 2021 ; Lucassen et al, 2021 ; Pruett et al, 2021 ). The present study further demonstrated that family support and co-parenting work on parents' mental health both directly and indirectly, by attenuating daily parenting hassles.…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic and related containment strategies exposed people to new stressors, such as health concerns, social isolation, job loss, and financial insecurity ( Moreno et al, 2020 ; Pfefferbaum and North, 2020 ), all these factors negatively impacted people's mental health ( Fontanesi et al, 2020 ; Loades et al, 2020; Wilson et al, 2020 ). Some studies found that parents suffered more severe mental health problems ( Feinberg et al, 2022 ; Fontanesi et al, 2020 ; McRae et al, 2021 ) because they may have additional burdens and stress on childcare and home education due to lockdown ( Chung et al, 2020 ; Freisthler et al, 2021 ; Giannotti et al, 2021 ; Lucassen et al, 2021 ; Patrick et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Existing studies demonstrated that the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment strategies disrupted most people's lives worldwide and caused widespread psychosocial stress, this may be particularly true for parents since they faced additional childcare and education demands during the lockdown time ( Freisthler et al, 2021 ; Giannotti et al, 2021 ; Lucassen et al, 2021 ; Patrick et al, 2020 ). Emerging evidence also showed that parents generally reported higher stress levels and more severe mental health problems than non-parents during the pandemic ( Brown et al, 2020 ; McRae et al, 2021 ; Park et al, 2020 ; Russell et al, 2020 ).…”

Mindful Parenting Mediated Between Mothers’ Perceived Stress During COVID-19 and Child Adjustment

“…In the face of elevated pandemicrelated stress, such as financial strain, disruption in daily routines, and children's challenging social and academic demands (Brown et al, 2020), parents may exhibit greater negative parenting behavior, such as reacting emotionally towards children's misbehavior (Prime et al, 2020). Indeed, recent studies have demonstrated that parents' perceived stress during COVID-19 was associated with poorer parenting behavior, such as coercive and harsh parenting (e.g., scolding, spanking, and yelling at children; Chung et al, 2020;Giannotti et al, 2022;Lucassen et al, 2021). Parents' perceived stress during COVID-19 was also positively linked to children's emotional and behavioral problems (Cohodes et al, 2021;Giannotti et al, 2022;Spinelli et al, 2020Spinelli et al, , 2021Sun et al, 2022).…”