Social Class and Emotional Well-Being: Lessons From a Daily Diary Study of Families Engaged in Virtual Elementary School During COVID-19

Abstract

To understand how parents adapted to virtual learning expectations during the initial COVID-19 school closures in spring 2020, this study investigated families’ daily activities, including parents’ emotions and their appraisals of the value of daily activities across two timepoints. Thirty-two parent–child dyads (Mean child age = 78 months, 50% male; 47% Latinx/Hispanic; 28% Spanish speaking) from a Southern California school district serving a diverse population completed a daily diary texting protocol (experience sampling method; ESM) five times per day over five days. Families spent most of their time together engaging in mealtime activities (preparing meals and eating). Families from low socioeconomic backgrounds reported appraising academic activities, social skills, and life skills more highly than families from high socioeconomic backgrounds. Parents reported more positive emotions than negative emotions. Findings provide opportunities for educators to mitigate learning loss by building on children’s learning experiences and family adaptations to daily routines during COVID-19.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of Childrens Executive Functions Implications for School-Based Interventions

“…Some studies have reported positive experiences among families during the confi nament. A research study found that low-income families spent most of their time together engaging in mealtime activities, and this time was associated with pleasant interactions between parents and children [67]. Another study surveyed Turkish and Chinese parents about their positive experiences with their children while in quarantine.…”

Predictors of school well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in two cities in Germany. The importance of school resources, days absent due to quarantine/isolation and home background characteristics

“…Zudem zeigen sich Zusammenhänge bei der Ausstattung mit digitalen Endgeräten zuhause mit der Aufrechterhaltung sozialer Kontakte (Andresen et al 2020) und positiven Emotionen bezüglich der Schule (Huber und Helm 2020). Vor allem jedoch scheint die soziale Unterstützung durch das häusliche Umfeld ein wichtiger Indikator für K das Wohlbefinden während der Pandemie zu sein (Cohen et al 2022;Gayatri und Irawaty 2022), wobei insbesondere der Austausch mit den Eltern von Bedeutung ist (Tang et al 2021).…”