Associations between Work-Family Balance, Parenting Stress, and Marital Conflicts during COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore.

As part of the "Circuit-breaker" social distancing measure to address COVID-19, the government of Singapore closed schools and workplaces from April to May 2020. Although this helped reduce transmission rates, for working parents, this period had been a challenging experience of working from home while providing care for children full-time. Problems in the work-home interface can have a significant impact on parenting and marital harmony. We analyzed data from 201 married and employed parents in Singapore using online surveys. Latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles of parents' work-family balance (WFB) and spousal and employer support. Linear regression was used to examine links between profiles with parenting stress and marital conflicts. Results indicated three distinct profiles of WFB and social support levels: (a) Strong (43%), (b) Moderate (38%), and (c) Poor (19%). Mothers were more likely than fathers to be in the Moderate and Poor profiles. One key finding is that profiles characterized by poorer WFB were found to be linked with higher parenting stress and increased marital conflicts. There are important variations in parents' abilities to balance work and family and levels of social support received. Lock-downs can affect parenting and marital harmony especially for parents with poor WFB and weak social support. Any attention given to supporting working parents is vital and urgent to counter any problems in the work-family interface during a lockdown.

Design, Implementation, and Evolution of the Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network (MODRN).

BACKGROUND: In the US, Medicaid covers over 80 million Americans. Comparing access, quality, and costs across Medicaid programs can provide policymakers with much-needed information. As each Medicaid agency collects its member data, multiple barriers prevent sharing Medicaid data between states. To address this gap, the Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network (MODRN) developed a research network of states to conduct rapid multi-state analyses without sharing individual-level data across states. OBJECTIVE: To describe goals, design, implementation, and evolution of MODRN to inform other research networks. METHODS: MODRN implemented a distributed research network using a common data model, with each state analyzing its own data; developed standardized measure specifications and statistical software code to conduct analyses; and disseminated findings to state and federal Medicaid policymakers. Based on feedback on Medicaid agency priorities, MODRN first sought to inform Medicaid policy to improve opioid use disorder treatment, particularly medication treatment. RESULTS: Since its 2017 inception, MODRN created 21 opioid use disorder quality measures in 13 states. MODRN modified its common data model over time to include additional elements. Initial barriers included harmonizing utilization data from Medicaid billing codes across states and adapting statistical methods to combine state-level results. The network demonstrated its utility and addressed barriers to conducting multi-state analyses of Medicaid administrative data. CONCLUSIONS: MODRN created a new, scalable, successful model for conducting policy research while complying with federal and state regulations to protect beneficiary health information. Platforms like MODRN may prove useful for emerging health challenges to facilitate evidence-based policymaking in Medicaid programs.

Text-Mining Open-Ended Survey Responses Using Structural Topic Modeling: A Practical Demonstration to Understand Parents’ Coping Methods During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore

Open-ended survey questions crucially contribute to researchers’ understandings of respondents’ experiences. However, analyzing open-ended responses using human coders is labor-intensive. Structural topic modeling (STM) is a text mining method that discover topics from textual data. We demonstrate the use of STM to analyze open-ended survey responses to understand how parents coped during the COVID-19 lock-down in Singapore. We administered online surveys to 199 parents in Singapore during the COVID-19 lock-down. To show a STM analysis, we demonstrated a workflow that includes steps in data preprocessing, model estimation, model selection, and model interpretation. An 18-topic model best fit the data based on model diagnostics and researchers’ expertise. Prevalent coping methods described by respondents include “Spousal Support,” “Routines/Schedules,” and “Managing Expectations.” Topic prevalence for some topics varied with respondents’ levels of parenting stress and whether parents were fathers or mothers. STM offers an efficient, valid, and replicable way to analyze textual data such as open-ended survey responses and case notes that can complement researchers’ knowledge and skills. STM can be used as part of a multistage research process or to support other analyses such as clarifying quantitative findings and identifying preliminary themes from qualitative data.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15228835.2022.2036301 . [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Technology in Human Services is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Mediating Effects of Parental Stress on Harsh Parenting and Parent-Child Relationship during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Singapore.

Because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, "Circuit-breaker" safety distancing was implemented in Singapore from April to May 2020. Schools and workplaces were closed and parents had to balance telecommuting with parenting responsibilities. Coupled with the high degree of economic uncertainty and reduced social support, these circumstances are hypothesized to increase parenting stress. Based on the Parental Stress Model, this study aims to understand how parents' perceived impact of COVID-19 increased harsh parenting and reduced parent-child relationship closeness through the mediating effects of parenting stress. We collected data from 258 parents living in Singapore using online surveys disseminated through Facebook and community organizations. Our predictor was the perceived impact of COVID-19. Parental stress (mediator) was measured with the Parental Stress Scale. Two outcomes were used: parent-child relationship closeness and harsh parenting (spanking, yelling). Using mediation analysis in the SEM framework, we tested the indirect effects using bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. Our results indicated that parenting stress was a significant mediator in the relationship between the perceived impact of COVID-19 and (a) parent-child closeness (indirect effect = -.30, Bootstrap 99% CI[-.59, -.11]) and (b) harsh parenting (indirect effect = .58, Bootstrap 99% CI[.25, .94]). The impact of COVID-19 and stay-home orders can increase parenting stress. This, in turn, has a negative impact on parenting by affecting parents' relationship with their children and increasing the use of harsh parenting. Given that these are risk factors for potential child abuse, supporting parents and mitigating the impact of COVID-19 are important.