Department of Neurosciences Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. D'Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Fam Process. 2021 Jun;60(2):639-653. doi: 10.1111/famp.12601. Epub 2020 Sep 28.
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 regulation competences. The general mean levels of parenting stress and children emotion regulation 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 effective 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.
新冠疫情的爆发给意大利家庭的日常生活带来了许多变化，增加了他们出现心理问题的风险。本研究探讨了与父母压力相关的风险因素，以及在具有不同社会经济风险的家庭中对儿童情绪调节的影响。2-14 岁儿童的家长完成了一份调查问卷，报告了因封锁而产生的困难、家庭混乱程度、父母压力、父母对孩子日常生活的参与度以及孩子的情绪调节能力。与意大利的常模相比，父母压力和孩子情绪调节能力的总体平均水平并未达到临床水平。家庭混乱程度预测父母压力水平更高，而父母压力又通过父母参与度这一中介因素与孩子的情绪调节能力降低有关。压力更大的父母对孩子的活动参与度更低，从而降低了孩子有效的情绪调节能力。只有在 SES 无风险家庭中，封锁限制才会增加父母压力。对于 SES 有风险的家庭，父母压力和参与度对孩子调节策略的影响更强，而父母参与度对孩子消极情绪的保护作用在 SES 无风险家庭中并不明显。父母要平衡个人生活、工作和孩子的养育，这是一个有压力的经历，没有其他帮助。这种情况可能会损害他们作为支持性照顾者的能力，从而对孩子的幸福造成不利影响。政策应考虑到封锁对家庭心理健康的影响，并根据家庭的风险因素制定有针对性的支持干预措施。
