Parenting-Related Exhaustion During the Italian COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Objective Worldwide, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has generated significant worry, uncertainty, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness. In Italy, these effects have been particularly pronounced. While research on the COVID-19 outbreak has mainly focused on the clinical features of infected patients and the psychological impact on the general population and health professionals, no investigation has yet assessed the psychological impact of the pandemic on parents. In the present research, we conducted a web-based survey of Italian parents to examine the prevalence of parenting-related exhaustion—and to identify its associated risk and protective factors—4 weeks into the lockdown. Methods A total of 1,226 parents provided their consent to participate in the study and completed a demographic questionnaire, information relating to particular COVID-19 experiences, and measures of emotional exhaustion, parental resilience, social connections, and psychological distress during the lockdown. Results Seventeen percent of our sample experienced significant parenting-related exhaustion, with mothers more severely affected. Multiple regression analyses showed that greater parenting-related exhaustion was predicted by psychological distress, lower parental resilience, motherhood, fewer perceived social connections, and being single, as well as having a child with special needs, having a large number of children, and having younger children. Conclusion The findings add further support to the call for preventive programs to support parents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health professionals and social workers should be warned of the effects of lockdown and social distancing on parenting and, consequently, the well-being of children.

Parenting in a Pandemic: Parental Stress During the Physical Distancing Intervention Following the onset of the COVID-19 Outbreak

“…The findings are also comparable with the findings by Brown and colleagues (2020), where greater COVID-19-related stressors and high symptoms of anxiety and depression were associated with higher parental perceived stress (Brown et al, 2020). Also, a recent study among 1226 Italian parents reported that 84% reported a clinically alarming level of distress, where female parents, as also found in our study, showed higher levels of parenting-related exhaustion than male parents (Marchetti et al, 2020). Moreover, compared to our findings, a similar prevalence of parents meeting the clinical cutoff score for PTSD (25%) among isolated or quarantined parents was reported by Sprang & Silman (2013), although this study was based on parents' retrospective self-report of varying disease-containment experiences and not conducted during physical distancing interventions.…”

A 2-Month Follow-Up Study of Psychological Distress among Italian People during the COVID-19 Lockdown

“…One interpretation of this could be that children are a source of positive emotions, and they may motivate parents to take initiative and have trust in the future; in this way, parents may derive personal value from the parental role. Furthermore, the complex task of childcare throughout the lockdown period may have protected parents against depressive feelings (or an awareness of these feelings), as measured by the DASS-21 (e.g., "I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything"); however, it may have nonetheless led parents to experience greater distress or exhaustion [29][30][31].…”

Seelische Gesundheit und psychische Belastungen von Kindern und Jugendlichen in der ersten Welle der COVID-19-Pandemie – Ergebnisse der COPSY-Studie

“…viele Kinder haben, alleinerziehend sind oder wenn ihre Kinder emotionale, behaviorale oder andere psychische Störungen haben [ 30 , 31 ]. Diese Eltern sind gefährdet, sich während der Pandemie sehr zu erschöpfen und ein „Burn-out“ zu entwickeln [ 32 ]. Dies sollte bei zukünftigen politischen Entscheidungen im Rahmen weiterer Infektionswellen berücksichtigt werden [ 33 ].…”