Trends in Family Violence Are Not Causally Associated with COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders: a Commentary on Piquero et al.

Abstract

COVID-19 has caused a wave of research publications in academic and pre-print outlets which have resulted in several high-profile retractions. While the breadth of emerging research has been instrumental in understanding and curbing the global pandemic in near real-time, unfortunately manuscripts with major methodological challenges have fallen through the cracks. In this perspective, we illustrate this issue in light of a recent manuscript by Piquero et al. (2020). In the study, a statistically significant association between stay-at-home orders and family violence was not detected; however, the authors widely disseminated a "12.5% increase in family violence" offenses to a variety of media outlets. This negligent dissemination of inaccurate research findings has important implications for policy and the virus mitigation efforts, which might urge policymakers to terminate stay-at-home orders in an effort to reduce family violence and other social risk factors. Changes may ultimately result in more COVID-related deaths as stay-at-home orders are prematurely and inappropriately lifted to prevent purported injuries in the home. Therefore, the widespread propagation of these claims in the absence of scientific evidence of an increase has great potential to cause harm.

Reflexiones sobre la violencia de género durante el confinamiento causado por Covid-19

“…A pesar de los limitados precedentes, algunas investigaciones (Campbell, 2020) indican que los efectos de las pandemias son sobre todo rápidos, con un aumento de la presión, cambios repentinos en el trabajo diario, cierre de las escuelas y los recursos comunitarios, y en general una reducción de los recursos disponibles. Montenegro y Montenegro (2020) manifestaron que las situaciones de vulnerabilidad de las poblaciones con menos recursos se agravaron con la pandemia derivada por el Covid-19 sobre todo por la pérdida de empleos, la precarización laboral, la alteración de las rutinas diarias, el mayor número de episodios de ansiedad y depresión, el crecimiento de adicciones, el aumento de casos de violencia doméstica e intrafamiliar en mujeres, niñas, niños y adolescentes, y en casos más graves femicidios, todo esto pese a que algunos autores cuestionaran la evidencia científica de que el confinamiento causara un aumento de la violencia de género (Reingle- Gonzalez et al, 2020).…”

Family Relationships Under Work From Home: Exploring the Role of Adaptive Processes

“…First, WFH had a positive association with spending time with family members. This could be due to WFH eliminating the need to commute to the office, allowing workers to spend more time at home ( 19 , 28 , 29 , 33 ). Workers can benefit from the saved traveling time and flexible schedules to spend more time accompanying their family members.…”

“…This is especially the case for highly educated workers, who tended to report spending less time with family members during WFH. Strategies to increase the interaction with family members include fostering communication with them ( 44 ), developing a positive family atmosphere ( 78 ), and investing more time and attention in homeschooling ( 29 ). Second, strategies should be provided to younger workers who perceived worse work-life balance during WFH.…”

“…Family relationship quality largely relies on the communication among family members ( 12 , 27 ). WFH allows workers to stay at home and spend time with family members, providing an opportunity to enhance communication and further improve family relationships ( 19 , 28 , 29 ). Family relationship quality is also influenced by the balance between work roles and family/life roles ( 12 , 30 ).…”

In a world called catastrophe: the impact of COVID-19 on neighbourhood level crime in Vancouver, Canada

“…And Ashby ( 2020 ) found that most crime types decreased across 16 cities in the USA. Specifically, in the context of domestic violence, Piquero et al ( 2020a ) observed an immediate spike during the initial lockdown, followed by a decline in Dallas, TX, but there has been debate regarding these results (Reingle Gonzalez et al, 2020 ; Piquero et al, 2020b )—a more recent meta-analysis has shown domestic violence increased during the early stages of the pandemic (Piquero et al, 2021 ).…”