Christie Hope, Hiscox Lucy V, Halligan Sarah L, Creswell Cathy
Department of Clinical Psychology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK.
Department of Psychology University of Bath Bath UK.
JCPP Adv. 2022 Sep;2(3):e12095. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12095. Epub 2022 Aug 19.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, school closures meant that for many households, home and school environments became intertwined. Parents and carers found themselves taking on the role as de-facto educators, as well as balancing working from home and caring for additional members of the household. Understanding the full extent of the effects incurred by parents and carers during school closures is vital to identifying and supporting vulnerable families. This rapid review aimed to appraise the available evidence on the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK parents and carers.
Searches for academic literature were conducted using Proquest Central, Scopus, and Google Scholar between 21st and 28th April 2021 using search terms describing "parents and carers", "COVID-19" and the "UK". Additional literature was identified on relevant parents and carers' organisations websites including charity reports.
Thirty-two articles were found relating to harms affecting parents and carers in the UK High levels of psychological distress, including anxiety and depression, were consistently identified in the general parent population, and especially in parents caring for a child with special educational needs and/or neurodevelopmental disorders (SEN/ND). Charity reports indicated that many parents, especially those from an ethnic minority background and kinship carers, were worse off financially and with food insecurities, whereas empirical evidence showed that mothers were more likely to initiate furlough for themselves compared with fathers or childless women. Domestic abuse support services also reported a sharp rise in demand during lockdown restrictions, and practitioners reported an increase in child and adolescent violence towards parents.
Given the known impacts of parental stress, mental health problems, domestic violence and financial hardship on children's development, it is critical that these findings are taken into account in case of future pandemics to minimise harms both to parents and their families.
由于新冠疫情，学校关闭意味着对许多家庭而言，家庭和学校环境交织在一起。家长和照料者发现自己承担起了事实上的教育者角色，同时还要平衡在家工作和照顾其他家庭成员。了解家长和照料者在学校关闭期间所受影响的全面程度对于识别和支持弱势家庭至关重要。这项快速综述旨在评估关于新冠疫情对英国家长和照料者潜在影响的现有证据。
2021年4月21日至28日，使用描述“家长和照料者”“新冠疫情”及“英国”的检索词，在Proquest Central、Scopus和谷歌学术上检索学术文献。还在相关家长和照料者组织网站上找到了其他文献，包括慈善报告。
发现32篇与影响英国家长和照料者的危害相关的文章。在普通家长群体中，尤其是在照顾有特殊教育需求和/或神经发育障碍（SEN/ND）儿童的家长中，持续发现了高水平的心理困扰，包括焦虑和抑郁。慈善报告显示，许多家长，尤其是来自少数族裔背景的家长和亲属照料者，经济状况更差，存在粮食不安全问题，而实证证据表明，与父亲或无子女女性相比，母亲更有可能主动申请休假。家庭暴力支持服务机构也报告称，在封锁限制期间需求急剧上升，从业者报告称儿童和青少年对家长的暴力行为有所增加。
鉴于已知父母压力、心理健康问题、家庭暴力和经济困难对儿童发展的影响，在未来发生疫情时考虑这些发现以尽量减少对家长及其家庭的伤害至关重要。
