•34.6% of parents said their child’s behavior had changed since the pandemic.•Two out of five parents met criteria for depression or anxiety disorder.•Parent depression and stress were negatively ...associated with home education.•Parent anxiety and stress were positively associated with child anxiety.•Parents were hugging/ showing affection to child more often during pandemic.
This study reports on parent-child dynamics during initial COVID-19 related school closures, based on cross-sectional analyses of a survey that utilized a convenience sampling approach. Data were collected in April 2020, approximately five weeks after the World Health Organization declared that the Coronavirus was a pandemic. Participants (N = 405) were adults recruited throughout the U.S. This study examines data from parents (69% mothers and 31% fathers) with at least one child 0–12 years of age. The majority were White (71%) and 41% had at least a bachelor’s degree. The majority of parents (78%) were educating their child at home due to COVID-19. Most (77.1%) reported use of online tools for at-home education, including educational apps, social media, and school-provided electronic resources. More than one-third (34.7%) of parents said their child’s behavior had changed since the pandemic, including being sad, depressed, and lonely. Most parents were spending more time involved in daily caregiving of their children since COVID-19. Two out of every five parents met the PHQ-8 criteria for major depression or severe major depression (40.0%) and the GAD-7 criteria for moderate or severe anxiety (39.9%). Multivariate analyses indicated that, compared to non-depressed parents, parents who met criteria for probable major or severe depression (B = −0.16, 95% CI = −0.29, −0.02, p = .021) and parenting stress (B = −0.37, 95% CI = −0.47, −0.27, p < .001) were negatively associated with parents’ perceived preparation to educate at home. Compared to parents with minimal or mild anxiety, parents with moderate or severe anxiety reported higher child anxiety scores (B = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.06, 0.28, p = .002). Parenting stress was also positively associated with higher child anxiety scores (B = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.32, 0.48, p < .001). Content analyses of open-ended questions indicated that school closures were a significant disruption, followed by lack of physical activity, and social isolation. Overall, study results suggested that parents’ mental health may be an important factor linked to at-home education and child wellbeing during the pandemic.
On March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The social isolation and economic stress resulting from pandemic have the potential to exacerbate child abuse and ...neglect. This study examines the association of parents’ perceived social isolation and recent employment loss to risk for child maltreatment (neglect, verbal aggression, and physical punishment) in the early weeks of the pandemic. Participants (
N
= 283) were adults living in the U.S. who were parents of at least one child 0–12 years of age. Participants completed an online survey approximately 2 weeks after the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was a pandemic. The survey asked about recent changes (i.e., in the past 2 weeks) to employment status, parenting behaviors, use of discipline, use of spanking, and depressive symptoms. Nearly 20% of parents had hit or spanked their child in the past two weeks alone. Parents’ perceived social isolation and recent employment loss were associated with self-report of physical and emotional neglect and verbal aggression against the child, even after controlling for parental depressive symptoms, income, and sociodemographic factors. Parents’ perceived social isolation was associated with parental report of changes in discipline, specifically, using discipline and spanking
more often
in the past 2 weeks. Associations were robust to analyses that included two variables that assessed days spent social distancing and days spent in “lockdown.” Study results point to the need for mental health supports to parents and children to ameliorate the strain created by COVID-19.
The Covid-19 pandemic upended the country, with enormous economic and social shifts. Given the increased contact from families living in virtual confinement coupled with massive economic disarray, ...the Covid-19 pandemic may have created the ideal conditions to witness a rise in children’s experience of abuse and neglect. Yet such a rise will be difficult to calculate given the drop in official mechanisms to track its incidence. The current investigation utilized two studies conducted early in the pandemic to evaluate maltreatment risk. In the first cross-sectional study, parents (n = 405) reported increased physical and verbal conflict and neglect which were associated with their perceived stress and loneliness. In the second study, parents (n = 106) enrolled in a longitudinal study reported increased parent-child conflict, which was associated with concurrent child abuse risk, with several links to employment loss, food insecurity, and loneliness; findings also demonstrated increases in abuse risk and psychological aggression relative to pre-pandemic levels. Findings are discussed in the context of a reactive welfare system rather than a pro-active public-health oriented approach to child maltreatment, connecting with families through multiple avenues. Innovative approaches will be needed to reach children faced with maltreatment to gauge its scope and impact in the pandemic’s aftermath.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the leading professional organization for social work that established the Code of Ethics and sets the policy agenda for the profession. Guided by ...the Code of Ethics and the Grand Challenges for Social Work goal to "build healthy relationships to end violence," the NASW Social Work Speaks policy compendium should reassert its statement against the physical punishment of children. This recommendation aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and children's right to protection from violence; the rigorous empirical research base, which demonstrates that physical punishment has detrimental consequences to child well-being; and similar policy statements issued by allied professional organizations. The NASW policies can advocate for ending violence against children by providing guidance on disciplinary practices that are based on principles of nonviolence and that respect children's human rights. Practitioners can support caregivers through interventions that provide alternatives to physical punishment.
•Mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress was associated with lower responsiveness.•Responsiveness was associated with higher child cognitive and c outcomes.•Responsiveness mediated associations of ...parenting stress and positive child outcomes.•Mothers and fathers had similar influence on child cognitive and prosocial outcomes.•Mothers’ parenting had a greater impact on child behavior problems than fathers’
Robust research shows that parenting stress is associated with lower levels of parental sensitivity toward their children (i.e., parental responsiveness), thus negatively influencing child outcomes. While research supports these associations, most studies utilize self-report measures of parental responsiveness and exclude fathers. This study examines whether observed parental responsiveness mediates the relationship between parenting stress and child cognitive development, prosocial behavior, and behavior problems in a large sample of diverse low-income families. Data were obtained from the Building Strong Families Project (N = 1,173). Dyadic bootstrapped mediation models were estimated in Mplus. For mothers and fathers, parenting stress was negatively associated with responsiveness (B = −0.08, 95% CI = −0.14, −0.02, p = .012), and responsiveness was positively associated with child cognitive development (B = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.11, 0.19, p < .001) and child prosocial behavior (B = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.08, 0.15, p < .001). Mothers’ responsiveness was negatively associated with child behavior problems (B = −0.07, 95% CI = −0.13, −0.01, p = .020), but fathers’ responsiveness was not (B = −0.01, 95% CI = −0.06, 0.05, p = .814). For mothers and fathers, parenting stress was indirectly related to child cognitive development and prosocial behavior via responsiveness. Indirect effects were not found for mothers or fathers when predicting child behavior problems. To improve children’s wellbeing, interventions may consider strengthening responsiveness and reducing parental stress among both mothers and fathers.
Abstract The strong and ever-growing evidence base demonstrating that physical punishment places children at risk for a range of negative outcomes, coupled with global recognition of children’s ...inherent rights to protection and dignity, has led to the emergence of programs specifically designed to prevent physical punishment by parents. This paper describes promising programs and strategies designed for each of three levels of intervention − indicated, selective, and universal − and summarizes the existing evidence base of each. Areas for further program development and evaluation are identified.
This qualitative study examined 25 stay-at-home fathers (SAHFs) in the United States and their lived experiences through the perspective of the theory of caring masculinities. Results from ...semistructured telephone interviews demonstrated that the majority of SAHFs voluntarily opted to be full-time caregivers, named financial reasons for becoming a SAHF, reported high levels of satisfaction in caring for their children, and experienced little change in their relationship with their spouse or partner as a result of being a SAHF. Major findings included the potential change in attitudes and masculine identities that accompany becoming a SAHF, men's emotional connection with others, and their increased respect for caregiving. Overall, SAHFs reported incorporating aspects of masculine and feminine qualities to develop a new masculine identity that best supports their caregiving role and experiences. In addition, SAHFs identified social isolation and mixed reactions from people as the 2 main challenges against constructing and maintaining their new masculinity; they also reported support from multiple social networks (e.g., partners, female family members, other SAHFs) as a means to successfully overcome such challenges. The results are further discussed in the context of the caring masculinities framework and suggestions are provided for future research.
Purpose
This “From the Field” article reports on the Text4Dad text messaging intervention designed to engage fathers in home visiting. We introduce implementation process components from our pilot ...study across three Healthy Start home visitation sites.
Description
Three Fatherhood Community Health Workers (F-CHWs) and three fathers from one Text4Dad site were interviewed. Using content analysis, we examined the experiences of F-CHWs who implemented Text4Dad and program participants who used Text4Dad.
Assessment
Results highlighted five implementation process components related to: (1) F-CHWs’ use of Text4Dad and enrolling fathers; (2) F-CHWs’ interactions with fathers, perceptions of Text4Dad content, and integration of Text4Dad into home visits with fathers; (3) training and technical assistance for F-CHWs; (4) father program participants’ acceptability and usability of Text4Dad; and (5) fathers’ barriers to interactive use of Text4Dad.
Conclusion
The F-CHWs were able to successfully enroll fathers into Text4Dad. F-CHWs and fathers found Text4Dad content acceptable to their circumstances. Text4Dad technology was viewed as usable, with some limitations. F-CHWs experienced challenges accessing the Text4Dad platform while on home visits. Results suggested that F-CHWs did not use Text4Dad to facilitate interaction, and accordingly, fathers had a lower than anticipated response rate to texts sent by their F-CHWs. We conclude with future directions for improving the implementation of text messaging programs in community-based fatherhood programs.
Significance
What is Already Known on this Subject?
Healthy Start home visitation programs use a community-based participatory approach to support maternal and child health among pregnant women and new mothers with low income. Given the benefits of father involvement to maternal child health, Healthy Start has begun to promote father involvement in their services and programming. Mobile technology has been identified as a way to encourage father involvement.
What this Study adds?
Leveraging mobile technology, we developed and pilot tested Text4Dad, an interactive and mentor-based text message program, as an add on to existing Healthy Start home visitation programs to support father involvement. Interviews with male mentors and enrolled fathers yielded key implementation process components (i.e., ease of use and enrollment of fathers, relevant parent education content, need for additional technical assistance and training to support mentor-father interactions) for using Text4Dad that have implications for incorporating mobile technology into community-based home visitation programs to promote father involvement.
Fathers contribute to their children's health starting at the beginning of life. Few parent education programs include fathers. Among those that do, there is little effort to report program effects ...on father outcomes.
In this systematic review, we examined father-inclusive perinatal parent education programs in the United States as they relate to a range of father outcomes.
The databases searched were PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Ovid Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO.
Studies were included if they included an evaluation of a parent education program and a report of father outcomes measured within 1 year of the child's birth and were conducted within the United States.
Of 1353 total articles, 21 met study criteria.
The overall state of the father-inclusive perinatal parent education program literature was poor, with few interventions available to fathers. Available programs were associated with increased father involvement, coparenting relationship, partner relationship quality, father's mental health, and father's supportive behaviors. Program effects on father-infant interaction, parenting knowledge, and attitudes and parenting self-efficacy were inconclusive. Three programs emerged as best evidence-based interventions.
Risk of bias was high for many studies. Outcome variability, small sample size, and publication bias contributed to the weak evidence base.
There is a need for more evidence-based interventions to support fathers. Clinicians play a key role in engaging fathers in early parent education programs and health care settings. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42017050099.
Spanking is one of the most common forms of child discipline used by parents around the world. Research on children in high-income countries has shown that parental spanking is associated with ...adverse child outcomes, yet less is known about how spanking is related to child well-being in low- and middle-income countries. This study uses data from 215,885 children in 62 countries from the fourth and fifth rounds of UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) to examine the relationship between spanking and child well-being. In this large international sample which includes data from nearly one-third of the world’s countries, 43% of children were spanked, or resided in a household where another child was spanked, in the past month. Results from multilevel models show that reports of spanking of children in the household were associated with lower scores on a 3-item socioemotional development index among 3- and 4-year-old children. Country-level results from the multilevel model showed 59 countries (95%) had a negative relationship between spanking and socioemotional development and 3 countries (5%) had a null relationship. Spanking was not associated with higher socioemotional development for children in any country. While the cross-sectional association between spanking and socioemotional development is small, findings suggest that spanking may be harmful for children on a more global scale than was previously known.
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