Parenting during COVID-19 emergency: Perceived stress and children's emotional difficulties

ABSTRACT

A growing body of research has documented the negative impact of COVID-19 containment measures on children's psychological well-being. The role of parental stress and the specific impact of different parental stressors on children's difficulties are underinvestigated. The current cross-sectional study was aimed at exploring the link between children's (3-17 years of age) emotional difficulties and some specific sources of parental stress after the first lockdown period and which sources of parental stress contribute to children's difficulties. 506 Italian parents filled in an online questionnaire at the end of June 2020. Results showed that the limitation of social interactions and family life arrangements have a significant impact on children's difficulties, suggesting focused interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of the pandemic on younger generations. © 2021 Franco Angeli Edizioni. All rights reserved.