Maternal distress and parenting during COVID-19: differential effects related to pre-pandemic distress?

Abstract

Background Distinguishing whether and how pre-existing characteristics impact maternal responses to adversity is difficult: Does prior well-being decrease the likelihood of encountering stressful experiences? Does it protect against adversity’s negative effects? We examine whether the interaction between relatively uniformly experienced adversity (due to COVID-19 experience) and individual variation in pre-existing (i.e., pre-pandemic onset) distress predicted mothers’ pandemic levels of distress and insensitive caregiving within a country reporting low COVID-19 death rates, and strict nationwide regulations. Method Fifty-one Singaporean mothers and their preschool-aged children provided data across two waves. Pre- pandemic onset maternal distress (i.e., psychological distress, anxiety, and parenting stress) was captured via self-reports and maternal sensitivity was coded from videos. Measures were repeated after the pandemic’s onset along with questionnaires concerning perceived COVID-19 adversity (e.g., COVID-19’s impact upon stress caring for children, housework, job demands, etc.) and pandemic-related objective experiences (e.g., income, COVID-19 diagnoses, etc.). Regression analyses (SPSS v28) considered pre-pandemic onset maternal distress, COVID-19 stress, and their interaction upon post-pandemic onset maternal distress. Models were re-run with appropriate covariates (e.g., objective experience) when significant findings were observed. To rule out alternative models, follow up analyses (PROCESS Model) considered whether COVID-19 stress mediated pre- and post-pandemic onset associations. Models involving maternal sensitivity followed a similar data analytic plan. Results Pre-pandemic maternal distress moderated the association between COVID-19 perceived stress and pandemic levels of maternal distress (β = 0.22, p < 0.01) but not pandemic assessed maternal sensitivity. Perceived COVID-19 stress significantly contributed to post-pandemic onset maternal distress for mothers with pre-pandemic onset distress scores above (β = 0.30, p = 0.05), but not below (β = 0.25, p = 0.24), the median. Objective COVID-19 adversity did not account for findings. Post-hoc analyses did not suggest mediation via COVID-19 stress from pre-pandemic to pandemic maternal distress. Conclusions Pre-existing risk may interact with subsequent perceptions of adversity to impact well-being. In combination with existing research, this small study suggests prevention programs should focus upon managing concurrent mental health and may highlight the importance of enhanced screening and proactive coping programs for people entering high stress fields and/or phases of life.

“Trying to remain calm…but I do reach my limit sometimes”: An exploration of the meaning of gentle parenting

“…Given the nearly impossible task of simultaneously juggling work responsibilities with caring for children at home due to the closure of schools and childcare facilities, it is no wonder that many parents of young children experienced poor mental health (Kerr et al, 2021) and reported feelings of stress and exhaustion (Dawes et al, 2021) during the pandemic. Those particularly vulnerable to the pandemic have been high-conflict families (Low et al, 2023;Schmeer et al, 2023), families who employed harsh or inconsistent parenting (Ostrov et al, 2023), and families with children who were prone to anxiety (Tatsiopoulou et al, 2022) or stress (Ostrov et al, 2023).…”

“…Given the nearly impossible task of simultaneously juggling work responsibilities with caring for children at home due to the closure of schools and childcare facilities, it is no wonder that many parents of young children experienced poor mental health (Kerr et al, 2021) and reported feelings of stress and exhaustion (Dawes et al, 2021) during the pandemic. Those particularly vulnerable to the pandemic have been high-conflict families (Low et al, 2023;Schmeer et al, 2023), families who employed harsh or inconsistent parenting (Ostrov et al, 2023), and families with children who were prone to anxiety (Tatsiopoulou et al, 2022) or stress (Ostrov et al, 2023).Evidence suggests that even beyond the pandemic, the work of rearing children is simply seen as more stressful and difficult than it was in the past. A recent study within the United States by the Pew Research Center (2023) found that 41% of parents reported that being a parent is tiring, and 29% said it is stressful all or most of the time, with the youth mental health crises reported as a common concern among parents.…”

“Trying to remain calm…but I do reach my limit sometimes”: An exploration of the meaning of gentle parenting

“…Given the nearly impossible task of simultaneously juggling work responsibilities with caring for children at home due to the closure of schools and childcare facilities, it is no wonder that many parents of young children experienced poor mental health [ 5 ] and reported feelings of stress and exhaustion [ 6 ] during the pandemic. Those particularly vulnerable to the pandemic have been high-conflict families [ 1 , 7 ], families who employed harsh or inconsistent parenting [ 8 ], and families with children who were prone to stress or anxiety [ 9 ].…”