Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara.
Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara.
J Pediatr Psychol. 2020 Nov 1;45(10):1114-1123. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsaa093.
Worldwide, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has generated significant worry, uncertainty, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness. In Italy, these effects have been particularly pronounced. While research on the COVID-19 outbreak has mainly focused on the clinical features of infected patients and the psychological impact on the general population and health professionals, no investigation has yet assessed the psychological impact of the pandemic on parents. In the present research, we conducted a web-based survey of Italian parents to examine the prevalence of parenting-related exhaustion-and to identify its associated risk and protective factors-4 weeks into the lockdown.
A total of 1,226 parents provided their consent to participate in the study and completed a demographic questionnaire, information relating to particular COVID-19 experiences, and measures of emotional exhaustion, parental resilience, social connections, and psychological distress during the lockdown.
Seventeen percent of our sample experienced significant parenting-related exhaustion, with mothers more severely affected. Multiple regression analyses showed that greater parenting-related exhaustion was predicted by psychological distress, lower parental resilience, motherhood, fewer perceived social connections, and being single, as well as having a child with special needs, having a large number of children, and having younger children.
The findings add further support to the call for preventive programs to support parents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health professionals and social workers should be warned of the effects of lockdown and social distancing on parenting and, consequently, the well-being of children.
在全球范围内，2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行引起了极大的担忧、不确定性、焦虑、悲伤和孤独。在意大利，这些影响尤为明显。虽然 COVID-19 爆发的研究主要集中在感染患者的临床特征以及对普通人群和卫生专业人员的心理影响上，但尚未有研究评估大流行对父母的心理影响。在本研究中，我们对意大利父母进行了一项基于网络的调查，以研究育儿相关疲惫的流行情况，并确定其相关的风险和保护因素-在封锁的第 4 周。
共有 1226 名父母同意参加研究，并完成了人口统计问卷、与特定 COVID-19 经历相关的信息以及在封锁期间的情绪疲惫、父母适应力、社交联系和心理困扰的测量。
我们的样本中有 17％的人经历了严重的育儿相关疲惫，母亲的情况更为严重。多元回归分析表明，心理困扰、父母适应力较低、母亲身份、感知社交联系较少和单身、有特殊需要的孩子、有多个孩子和有年幼孩子的父母，更容易出现育儿相关疲惫。
这些发现进一步支持了在 COVID-19 大流行期间为父母提供预防计划的呼吁。心理健康专业人员和社会工作者应该注意封锁和社交隔离对育儿和儿童福祉的影响。
