Tunisian mothers facing the covid-19 pandemic: what are the risks for their mental health?

Introduction: Covid-19 pandemic put parents under great pressure, and the most vulnerable parents may have become too overwhelmed to find appropriate ways to be supportive caregivers and to address children's fears and insecurities. Objective(s): Assess the level of parental stress experienced by mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare it with that experienced by fathers. Method(s): This was a descriptive and comparative analytical study, shared on social networks during the period from 8 to 20 April 2021, targeting mothers of children aged 2 to 18 years. The mother answered the questionnaire for herself and her child. The level of stress experienced by the mother in the parent-child relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic was assessed by the brief version of the Parental Stress Index (PSI-SF). Result(s): The total number of participants was 65 mothers. Parental stress level in mothers was high in 58.5%, the average PSI score was 94.25;the mean score of the parental distress subscale was 34.06;the mean score of the dysfunctional child-parent interaction subscale was 27.86;and the average score of the child difficulty subscale was 32.32. The mean scores of the parental distress subscale, the child difficulty subscale, as well as the mean PSI total score were significantly higher in mothers than in fathers, with p= 0.010;p= 0.022 and p=0.017 respectively. Conclusion(s): Our results highlight a higher level of stress in mothers than in fathers. This can be explained the parental, marital and professional responsibilities imposed on women, underlining the urgent need to provide mothers with adequate support.

Psychological problems in tunisian children during the covid-19 pandemic

Introduction: The Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown have profoundly impacted families' daily life. Children may be among the most exposed to the psychosocial consequences of the pandemic. Objective(s): To assess the psychological well-being of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method(s): This was a descriptive study shared on social media during the period from 8 to 20 April 2021, targeting mothers of children aged 2 to 18 years. The first part included sociodemographic data of mothers and children. Then, to assess the behavior and coping skills of children and adolescents, we administered the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Result(s): Our study included 65 middle-aged moms = 35.28 years. Among mothers, 1.5% reported having at least one child with a psychiatric, medical or genetic illness. The average age of the children was 8.54 years, the sex ratio was 1.03 and they were in primary school in 52.3%. Moms had talked to their child about COVID in 93.8%, using scientific data in 69.4% of cases. The total average SDQ score was 10.82;and overall mental health was at risk in 15.4% of the children. They had risky emotional symptoms in 9.2%, risky aggressive behaviors in 12.3%, risky hyperactivityinattention symptoms in 16.9%, relationship behaviors with at-risk pairs in 24.6%, and risky prosocial behavior in 9.2% of cases. Conclusion(s): Researchers and government officials should be more concerned about the mental health of children who are often neglected as a result of the pandemic due to their comparatively lower mortality than older adults.