Parents of young infants report poor mental health and more insensitive parenting during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth
; 22(1): 302, 2022 Apr 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2079399
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The Covid-19 pandemic has put an unprecedented pressure on families with children. How parents were affected by the first Covid-19 lockdown during the early postpartum period, an already challenging period for many, is unknown.AIM:
To investigate the associations between Covid-19 related stress, mental health, and insensitive parenting practices in mothers and fathers with young infants during the first Dutch Covid-19 lockdown.METHODS:
The Dutch Covid-19 and Perinatal Experiences (COPE-NL) study included 681 parents of infants between 0 and 6 months (572 mothers and 109 fathers). Parents filled out online questionnaires about Covid-19 related stress, mental health (i.e. anxiety and depressive symptoms), and insensitive parenting. Hierarchical regression models were used to analyze the data.RESULTS:
Parents of a young infant reported high rates of Covid-19 related stress, with higher reported stress in mothers compared to fathers. Additionally, the percentages of mothers and fathers experiencing clinically meaningful mental health symptoms during the pandemic were relatively high (mothers 39.7% anxiety, 14.5% depression; fathers 37.6% anxiety, 6.4% depression). More Covid-19 related stress was associated with more mental health symptoms in parents and increased insensitive parenting practices in mothers.CONCLUSIONS:
The results emphasize the strain of the pandemic on young fathers' and mothers' mental health and its potential negative consequences for parenting. As poor parental mental health and insensitive parenting practices carry risk for worse child outcomes across the lifespan, the mental health burden of the Covid-19 pandemic might not only have affected the parents, but also the next generation.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Parenting
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Pregnancy
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth
Journal subject:
Obstetrics
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12884-022-04618-x
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