Life-Changing Experiences of Mothers with School-Age Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Focusing on Their Health Risk Perceptions and Health-Related Behaviors

Abstract

This study aimed to explore health risk perceptions, changes in health-related behaviors, and life experiences of mothers with school-age children during the early coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Data were collected between 16 July and 10 September 2020, by individual interviews and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. After the twelve participants’ experiences were analyzed, four themes and ten sub-themes were derived. The four themes were: “Struggling to identify the substance of COVID-19,” “Taking the initiative to protect the health of the family,” “Frustrated by the brutal reality of no end in sight,” and “Trying to adjust wisely to an inevitable new lifestyle.” The findings suggest that while the world remains in an ongoing battle with COVID-19, national health institutions should prepare a health education system for specific infection prevention methods that can be practiced by individuals in daily life.

Mothers' and children's thoughts on COVID-19: A qualitative study

“…After the mothers felt the disease was a threat, they tried to protect themselves and their families by applying measures such as hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing. These results paralleled the findings in the Yoo et al (2021) study. Children participating in the study stated that COVID-19 was a disease and defined the concepts such as mask wearing and distancing as part of their daily lives.…”

“…According to the study, mothers and children tried to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and new lifestyle it established. The COVID-19 pandemic had effects on the psychological, physical, social, economic, and spiritual health of mothers.When the literature on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mothers; Yoo et al (2021) a qualitative study which analyzed the experiences of mothers with school aged children and determined that mothers experienced fear and anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic and felt that their families were threatened.They stated that they were disappointed that the pandemic had not yet ended which affected them both physically and mentally. They realized how important human relations were to them.…”

Depression before and during-COVID-19 by Gender in the Korean Population

“…Second, lifestyles substantially changed after the pandemic. Previous studies have reported that female were more mentally affected by the pandemic [ 26 , 27 ]; this worsened after the outbreak [ 28 , 29 ]. The lives of parents with school children were significantly impacted regardless of their employment status [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Use of Respiratory Protection Devices by Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In addition, the reasons for refusing face masks can be a careless attitude toward one's own health, as well as a lack of public awareness regarding the effectiveness of using face masks. According to some authors, men are less likely to wear face masks than women [25,26], with women having been found to feel responsible both for themselves and for their children and to make more efforts to preserve the health of the family through measures such as self-isolation, wearing personal protective equipment, healthy nutrition, intrafamily communication, and psychological support [27]. People in some regions (e.g., Thailand, China, Japan) have opted for temporary alternatives or the reuse of disposable surgical face masks.…”

“…The state of stress and depression, which are the result of the constant fear for one's own health and the health of their loved ones, has become more important. In addition, many people have lost their jobs and, consequently, their income, other have been forced to work remotely and, as a result, to work longer hours while mastering new technologies and online platforms, while some sectors of the economy and education have been undergoing a crisis (manufacturing industry, public catering, tourism) [27][28][29][30]. At the same time, though, the quality of atmospheric air has been noted to improve all over the world due to the shutdown of the transport industry, as well as other industries [30].…”