Parenting Stress During the COVID‐19 Outbreak: Socioeconomic and Environmental Risk Factors and Implications for Children Emotion Regulation
Parenting Stress During the COVID-19 Outbreak:
Socioeconomic and Environmental Risk Factors and
Implications for Children Emotion Regulation
MARIA SPINELLI*
FRANCESCA LIONETTI*
ANNALISA SETTI†
MIRCO FASOLO*
The COVID-19 outbreak imposed to Italian families many changes in their daily life
increasing the risk of developing psychological problems. The present study explored risk
factors associated with parenting stress and implications for children’s emotion regulation
in families with different socioeconomic risks. Parents of 2–14 years old children completed
a survey reporting difficulties experienced due to the lockdown, level of household chaos,
parenting stress, parent involvement in the child’s daily life, and children emotion regula-
tion competences. The general mean levels of parenting stress and children emotion regula-
tion abilities were not at clinical level compared with Italian norms. Household chaos
predicted higher levels of parenting stress, which, in turn, was associated with less effective
emotion regulation in children through the mediating role of parental involvement. More
stressed parents were less involved in their children’s activities, decreasing children’s effec-
tive emotion regulation. Only for SES no-risk families, the lockdown constraints increased
parenting stress. For SES at-risk families, the impact of parenting stress and involvement
on children regulation strategies was stronger, with a protective role played by parental
involvement on children’s negativity not evident for SES no-risk families. Dealing with the
lockdown is a stressful experience for parents who have to balance personal life, work, and
children upbringing, without other help. This situation potentially impairs their ability to
be supportive caregivers and is consequently detrimental for children well-being. Policies
should take into consideration the implications of the lockdown for families’ mental health
and tailor supportive interventions according to family’s risk factors.
Keywords: Children; Children Emotion Regulation; COVID-19; Parenting Stress; Parents;
Quarantine; SES risk
Fam Proc x:1–15, 2020
On the 30th of January 2020, the president of the WHO declared the internationalhealth emergency after the first clusters of people infected by COVID-19 evidenced in
China (WHO, 2020). From the second half of February, the number of Italian infected
cases increased making Italy the second most affected country after China at the time.
*Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Chi-
eti, Italy.
†University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Maria Spinelli, Department of Neuro-
sciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini 33, Chi-
eti 66100, Italy. E-mail:
[email protected].
1
Family Process, Vol. x, No. x, 2020 © 2020 Family Process Institute
doi: 10.1111/famp.12601
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2685-5472
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2685-5472
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2685-5472
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6029-0121
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6029-0121
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6029-0121
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9741-2559
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9741-2559
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9741-2559
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9822-9211
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9822-9211
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9822-9211
mailto:
[email protected]Since the pandemic kept spreading around the Country, the Italian Prime Minister issued
on March 9th a Decree which included many restrictive measures to mobility (Govern-
ment, 2020). The measures, later extended until May 3rd, known as #Iamstayinghome
(#IoRestoaCasa), included the closure of shops, except those selling essential goods, the
cancelation of all public and private events and ceremonies, and the shutdown of all
schools across the Country (Government, 2020). For the whole population started “the
quarantine,” that is, the lockdown phase, everyone was banned from leaving home except
for non-deferrable work or health reasons or other urgent matters. Working from home
was incentivized, but since most of the activities closed, and many people lost their job or
went through a severe reduction of their income, followed by a severe economic crisis,
which is due to have long-lasting effects. At the time of this study (April 2nd–7th, 2020),
after one month the end of the pandemic lockdown could not be predicted, as there were
more than 24 000 deaths due to the coronavirus and number of cases was still increasing.
After May 3rd, since the number of contagious started to reduce, Italy entered in what
was called Phase 2: Many activities were reopened, while schools’ closure was maintained,
likely to reopen only in September 2020. Since the lockdown started in Italy, many coun-
tries followed suit with most of Europe, United States, and Asia adopting similar restric-
tive measures.
The Impact of the Lockdown on Families’ Living Condition
With schools, all childcare-related activities and services closed and children were more
than adults banned to leave home. The living condition of families deeply and unexpect-
edly changed during the lockdown. In the home environment, the educational and sup-
portive role of parents became even more crucial than usually. However, parents had been
left alone to manage home schooling and childcare in unprecedented ways. Schools and
childcare facilities closure caused children to have reduced learning opportunities, as well
as loss of interactions with their peers and with other important educational figures such
as teachers (Wang, Zhang, Zhao, Zhang, & Jiang, 2020). Moreover, babysitters and grand-
parents were not available due to mobility restrictions, and contacts with other children
were not allowed. Many parents also had to work from home with additional problems in
managing time and spaces in the household. Having to live all together 24/24 hours poten-
tially presents particular challenges for families of a low socioeconomic status, living in
small, crowded houses (I.STAT, 2020). In this condition, children do not have enough
space to move, to play, and activities are more limited and dependent from parents’ ability
and/or possibility to engage with children. Parents, on the other hand, do not have time
and space for themselves, for the partner, and limited possibilities to take a break from
their parental duties.
The Impact of the Lockdown on Families’ Well-being
Hence, while mobility restrictions and social isolation associated with the lockdown are
successful in reducing the spreading of COVID-19, they represent a serious concern for
families’ psychological well-being. The lockdown poses a major burden on parents and
increases their risk of experiencing stress and negative emotions, with a potential cascade
effect on their children’s mental health (Sprang & Silman, 2013).
Currently, the effects of pandemics such as COVID-19 and, previously SARS, on fami-
lies and on the parent–child relationship are still unexplored. One study found that levels
of post-traumatic stress were four times higher in children who had been quarantined dur-
ing the SARS outbreak than in those who were not (Sprang & Silman, 2013). A prelimi-
nary study conducted in China reported the presence of psychological problems in
children during the COVID-19 pandemic, with fear, clinging, inattention and irritability
www.FamilyProcess.org
2 / FAMILY PROCESS
as the most severe symptoms for younger children (Jiao et al., 2020). As a consequence of
the COVID-19 lockdown, children are even more in need than before for their parents’ psy-
chological support. Parents are a critical external factor in children emotion regulation, as
they help children regulate their arousal and emotional states (Kopp, 1982), and the abil-
ity of the caregiver to accurately read and respond to the child signals of distress can lead
to a reduction in the distress itself. A previous study following Hurricane Katrina identi-
fied youths’ perceptions of their parents as more acceptant and less controlling as protec-
tive factors for traumatic reactions following the disaster (Costa, Weems, & Pina, 2009).
The role of parents is also emphasized during the lockdown by the lack of contact with
other adults (e.g., teachers and grandparents) helping regulate their emotions (Liu, Bao,
Huang, Shi, & Lu, 2020). Since emotion regulation is a crucial ability to modulate, inhibit,
and enhance emotional experiences and expressions to meet situational demands and
achieve personal goals (Thompson, 1994), children who are not adequately supported dur-
ing the lockdown may be at a higher risk for long-lasting negative effects of the COVID-19
outbreak.
Importantly, the lockdown affects the whole population well-being, parents included.
Studies conducted on adults similarly evidenced a high presence of psychological distress
such as depression, stress, irritability, and post-traumatic stress symptoms associated
with quarantine (Brooks et al., 2020; Hawryluck et al., 2004) with long-lasting effects pre-
sent years after (Liu et al., 2012). When affected adults are also parents, their ability to
fulfill the parenting role is impaired causing an exacerbation of the detrimental effect of
the pandemic on children. This was confirmed by a recent study evidencing that parental
perception of the difficulties associated with the COVID-19’s lockdown increased parental
levels of dyadic parenting stress, that is, stress experienced in the caregiving role, and in
turn increased children emotional and behavioral difficulties (Spinelli, Lionetti, Pastore,
& Fasolo, 2020).
Dyadic parenting stress refers to the parent’s perception of a mismatch between the
resources available to fulfill their parental role and the demands of parenting, and indi-
cates that parents’ ability to enjoy and appreciate the relationship with the child is to some
extend compromised (Abidin, 1992). Experimental evidences reported that it represents
an important risk factor for both parent–child interaction and child psychopathology (e.g.,
emotional and behavioral problems in children; Neece, Green, & Baker, 2012; Oxford &
Lee, 2011). Living in lockdown is a potentially stressful and traumatic experience that
may increase the perception of reduced parenting resources (Lange, Callinan, & Smith,
2019) and could be exacerbated by low-quality households and lower socioeconomic status.
Variation in parental report on household chaos (e.g., residential instability, lack of routi-
nes, and disorganization) is associated with parental perception of the relationship with
the child as stressful (Pike, Iervolino, Eley, Price, & Plomin, 2006) and not enjoyable
(Wang, Deater-Deckard, & Bell, 2013). All these aspects may be even more relevant for
families whose economic status changed due to the economic crisis following the COVID-
19 pandemic (Roubinov & Boyce, 2017).
Among the negative consequences of parenting stress, stressed parents have been
repeatedly reported as showing lower emotional awareness of the child, lower ability to
direct complete attention to the child needs and to function as an external regulator for
the child stresses (Fernandes, Canavarro, & Moreira, 2020; Gillis & Roskam, 2019; Spi-
nelli, Poehlmann, & Bolt, 2013). The association of parenting stress with the development
of dysfunctional parent–child relationship may be the reason why it constitutes an impor-
tant risk factor for child psychopathology (Neece et al., 2012; Oxford & Lee, 2011). Particu-
larly during and after potentially traumatic events, such as the COVID-19 emergency,
parental support to the child’s emotional regulation may be essential to promote child
Fam. Proc., Vol. x, xxxx, 2020
SPINELLI, LIONETTI, SETTI & FASOLO / 3
resilience and mental health (Costa et al., 2009; Hawkins & Manne, 2004; Whitson, Ber-
nard, & Kaufman, 2015).
The Present Study
In sum, the COVID-19 lockdown constitutes a potentially traumatic situation for par-
ents and ultimately children. However, individuals differently react to challenging events
according to their personal and environmental resources. Some parents may find particu-
larly difficult coping with such situation, and different levels of perceived parenting stress
and lower quality of parenting may depend on environmental and personal conditions
(Abidin, 1992; Belsky, 1984). Similarly, children may react differently, but as the litera-
ture repeatedly evidenced, the crucial factor in determining children responses to distress-
ing events is the quality of parenting and the parental support they receive (DiCorcia,
Sravish, & Tronick, 2013). Still, mechanisms that might explain the risk factors for par-
ents to experience stress during a situation such as the COVID-19 outbreak and how this
stress may, in turn, affect children emotional well-being, have not yet been investigated.
A deeper understanding of family processes is necessary to properly address families’
needs in present and future intervention programs (Sprang & Silman, 2013) aimed at pro-
moting the well-being of parents and children in these difficult times (Dalton, Rapa, &
Stein, 2020; Wang et al., 2020). To fill this gap by shedding light on families’ well-being
during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, we set up a large longitudinal study investigating
both parental and children’s psychological variables as well as socioeconomic indicators.
In the current paper, we present data from the first wave of data collection, aimed at
identifying factors related to the outbreak and to the household condition of the family
that may contribute to parenting stress, and how this, in turn, was predictive of parental
involvement in the child’s everyday activities and child’s emotion regulation adjustment.
In doing this, we investigated whether the level of family socioeconomic risk during the
outbreak influenced the interplay between COVID-19 lockdown’s effects, and parental
and child’s adjustment.
We expected that parents who experience more difficulties dealing with the lockdown
and living in more chaotic homes might be more at risk of parenting stress. More stressed
parents, overwhelmed by the difficulties of being a parent in such a stressful situation,
may find difficult to be positively involved in the everyday activities of their children,
being a vehicle to understand and appraise the unexpected situation. As a result, low-
quality functioning of the parents can upturn the negative effect of the outbreak and the
consequent lockdown on children, increasing the likelihood that children will have less
effective emotion regulation strategies and higher levels of emotion negativity (Blair
et al., 2008; DiCorcia et al., 2013; Kopp, 1982; Peisch, Dale, Parent, & Burt, 2019). We
expected this pattern to be stronger in at-risk for socioeconomic difficulties families, who
experienced the loss of the job due to the pandemic or had lower economic and cultural
resources.
METHOD
Study Design and Participants
Parents filled out an anonymous online survey, after reading the written consent form
and explicitly agreeing to take part to the study. The survey was shared via social media
for a limited time window (from April 2nd to 7th, 2020), targeting parents of children aged
2–14 years old. In case of multiple children, the parent was asked to report on one child
only. All the questions were related to the past week to be sure to assess the COVID-19
outbreak situation. There was no monetary compensation for participating. The final
www.FamilyProcess.org
4 / FAMILY PROCESS
sample providing information on study variables included in the current study consisted
of 810 parents living in Italy (93% mothers, Mage = 39.09 (5.98), educational level: 6% less
than high school degree, 39% high school degree, 34% bachelor or master degree, 20%
higher education degree) and 7% were fathers (Mage = 41.9(6.68), educational level: 2%
less than high school degree, 36% high school degree; 38% bachelor or master degree, 24%
higher education degree). The 32.4 % of them had one child and the 52.7 % two children.
The 45% were from the North, 37% from the Center, and 18% from South of Italy. Chil-
dren’s mean age was 7.16 (3.34), 50% were boys. Data reported in this study are part of a
wider longitudinal research project designed with multiple purposes related to the investi-
gation of the psychological impact of COVID-19 outbreak in Italian parents and children.
The study was approved by the ethical committee of the Department and was conducted
according to American Psychological Association guidelines in accordance with the 1964
Helsinki Declaration.
Measures
Socioeconomic risk index (SES risk index)
An ad hoc dichotomy risk index was computed to evaluate the level of family economic
risk (0 = no-risk; 1 = at-risk). If at least one of the following was present, the parent was
considered at risk: loss of job due to the pandemic, total...