Home-schooling and caring for children during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK: emotional states, systems of support and coping strategies in working mothers.

Introduction: We examined the experience of the intensification of home-schooling and/or childcare in working mothers in the United Kingdom during the first national COVID-19 lockdown. Our focus was on understanding how mothers dealt with this challenging period both emotionally and practically. Methods: Eligible mothers (n = 47; Mage = 39.6) participated in an anonymous online survey of openended questions. Results: Thematic analysis of responses showed that mothers found home-schooling and/or childcare to be challenging. This was particularly notable in situations where support from partners, schools, and workplaces was limited. For single working mothers, the absence of support resources was especially impactful. Mothers often felt overly stressed trying to balance work and family responsibilities, guilty for not meeting their child's needs, and were worried over their child's well-being and academic progress and over increasing work demands. Common strategies mothers used to cope with the challenges of home-schooling and/or childcare included adopting a positive outlook, implementing flexible family structures, increasing family connectedness, and negotiating alternative partnership models. Discussion: The intensification of home-schooling and/or childcare during the lockdown in the United Kingdom negatively affected maternal well-being, particularly due to limited support. These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing maternal wellbeing in post-pandemic recovery efforts. Additionally, they highlight the social dimension of maternal wellbeing and suggest a comprehensive approach to support it that includes both timely access to intervention for mental health but also implementing family-friendly work policies and offering support with childcare and children's learning as essential measures.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on multilingual families in the Netherlands.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, public life in many countries ground to a halt in early 2020. The aims of this study were (i) to uncover the language practices of multilingual families during the pandemic, in general and especially regarding homeschooling; and (ii) to determine to what extent the changes in circumstance caused by the pandemic impacted children's language use and proficiency, and family well-being. Parents from 587 families completed an online survey for 1051 children. Data were analysed using ordinal logistic regression. Our results showed that for most children, there were no changes in language use, proficiency or well-being. When there were changes, these were more likely for (families with) preschool children. Using the heritage language for homeschooling (some or all of the time) did not have a negative impact on Dutch language proficiency, but it did have a positive impact on the heritage language proficiency.

Lessons Learned-The Impact of the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on German Waldorf Parents' Support Needs and Their Rating of Children's Health-Related Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19-related lockdowns and homeschooling have imposed a substantial burden on school-aged children and parents. Waldorf education is a reform-educational concept. Little is known about the situation of German Waldorf families under pandemic conditions. METHODS: A cross-sectional, online, parent-proxy survey was conducted regarding the third pandemic wave. The primary outcome was parents' support needs, assessed with questions from the German COPSY (COVID-19 and PSYchological Health) study; the secondary outcome was children's HRQoL (KIDSCREEN-10, proxy version). RESULTS: We analyzed questionnaires from 431 parents of 511 Waldorf students aged 7 to 17 years. While 70.8% of Waldorf parents (WPs) reported a general need for support in dealing with their children, 59.9% of COPSY parents (CPs) indicated this need. WPs' support needs in dealing with their children's academic demands were similar to CPs' needs but relatively higher in terms of dealing with emotions and moods, behavior, and relationships within the family. WPs sought support mainly from school and teachers (65.6%). Support needs were high, although WPs rated their children's HRQoL higher than CPs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results underline the substantial pandemic-related burden on families across school types. WPs participating in this survey gave evidence that supports should focus on academic demands as well as psychosocial issues.

A qualitative dyadic approach to explore the experiences and perceived impact of COVID-19 restrictions among adolescents and their parents.

Background: While evidence exists for the negative and positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown on the mental health and well-being of adolescents and parents separately, the potential impact of lockdown, and the effective coping strategies that have been used have so far, by both children and their parents still needs to be explored. Method: A dyadic approach was used to explore the perceived impact of COVID-19 restrictions among early adolescents and their parents in Northwest England. Nine parents (8 female and 1 male) and their 10 children (6 boys and 4 girls) aged 11-13, were recruited from 4 secondary schools to be interviewed. Remote interviews took place between October and December 2020 for the adolescents and between March and May 2021 for their parents. Inductive thematic analysis was used. Results: Five inter-related themes were identified: (1) overcoming barriers for learning at home; (2) juggling a work-life balance; (3) loss of experiences; (4) caring for other family members; and (5) adopting new self-care and coping strategies during the pandemic. Conclusion: Themes identified will help to inform policy and practice for supporting adolescents and parents in the future, including the promotion of positive coping strategies and the provision of resources for adolescents, schools and families.

Parental Involvement in Children's Online Education During COVID-19; A Phenomenological Study in Saudi Arabia.

The global spread of COVID-19 has caused disruptions in many aspects of our lives. Education systems worldwide have changed dramatically. Numerous countries have encouraged schools to shift to e-learning and, as a result, parental involvement in their children's education has changed. This study focused on parental involvement in children's education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study applied a qualitative phenomenological approach following a constructive social framework, whereby the researcher pursued an understanding of the world in which she lives and works. The primary tool employed to collect relevant data was in-depth interviews with six parents who voluntarily participated in the study in the western province of Saudi Arabia. Thematic analysis is applied to analyse the collected data. The study found that parental involvement in children's schooling has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the interviews revealed that parents would prefer to keep to their chosen role rather than fulfil the teaching role imposed on them by COVID-19. This paper contributes to the application of Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler's model of parental involvement in children's schooling, illustrating that an external force drives parental involvement. More specifically, many parents have been forced to change the form of their participation due to the unforeseen shift to e-learning.

Division of Labour and Parental Mental Health and Relationship Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic-Mandated Homeschooling.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way parents partition tasks between one another, it is not clear how these division of labour arrangements affect well-being. Pre-pandemic research offers two hypotheses: economic theory argues optimal outcomes result from partners specialising in different tasks, whereas psychological theory argues for a more equitable division of labour. The question of which approach optimizes well-being is more pressing in recent times, with COVID-19 school closures leaving many couples with the burden of homeschooling. It is unknown whether specialisation or equity confer more benefits for mandated homeschoolers, relative to non-homeschoolers or voluntary homeschoolers. Couples (n = 962) with children in grades 1-5 completed measures of workload division and parental well-being. A linear mixed modelling in the total sample revealed that specialisation, but not equity, promoted increased parental emotional and relationship well-being. These relations were moderated by schooling status: voluntary homeschoolers' well-being benefitted from specialisation, whereas mandated homeschoolers' well-being did not benefit from either strategy; non-homeschoolers well-being benefitted from both strategies. Across the mixed-gender couples, mothers' and fathers' well-being both benefitted from specialisation; equity was only beneficial for mothers' well-being. Overall, couples might be advised to adopt highly equitable and specialised arrangements to promote both parents' well-being.

Parental perspectives of home-schooling of children with special educational needs and disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic: a review.

The purpose of this paper is to review recent literature on parental perspectives of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the home-schooling of children with special educational needs and disabilities, as well as to consider implications for their education and well-being. Eleven papers were reviewed, published between 2020 and 2021, selected according to a systematic protocol from three widely used online databases. Analysis of the reviewed papers found that transitioning to home-schooling during the pandemic had negative consequences for most of the children, as well as for their parents, though a small but significant number reported positive consequences. Three key areas of concern were identified in the analysis: balancing home-schooling with parent work activities; parent relationships with schools and support services and agencies and home-schooling effects on the well-being and mental health of parents and children.

"I miss my school!": Examining primary and secondary school students' social distancing and emotional experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the rapid spread of Covid-19, countries around the world implemented strict protocols ordering schools to close. As a result, educational institutions were forced to establish a new form of schooling by implementing emergency remote education. Learning from home during the Covid-19 pandemic brought numerous changes, challenges, and stressors to students' daily lives. In this context, major concerns have been raised based on the reports of students' negative experiences resulting from social distancing and isolation. Given the impact of Covid-19 on many aspects of students' lives, in particular their social and school experiences, research that provides insights into the consequences of this health crisis for students' well-being has become important. This study aims to explore students' experiences of social distancing and its relation to their negative emotional experiences during Germany's first Covid-19-related school closure. Findings indicate that both primary and secondary students missed their friends and classmates and that primary school students perceived higher levels of social distancing. However, a linear regression analysis indicated that the older the students were, the more negatively affected they were by social distancing. The implications of the study's results and further lines of research are discussed.

Parent health and wellbeing at home before and during COVID-19.

Environments of parenthood are changing with increasing rates of dual-working households, more single-parent and non-traditional families, increasing cost of childcare, and growing reliance on online communities for information and support. However, everyday parenthood activities are still primarily conducted at "home". In this paper, we draw on a study which initially aimed to explore parent health and wellbeing in everyday contexts before COVID-19, but the pandemic shaped the enquiry further. Our empirical research is based on an online survey with a sample of UK parents (n = 274). Findings presented here relate to qualitative data focused on descriptions of parenthood at home, analysed thematically. Our study reveals how everyday activities of parenthood, including intersections with work and socialisation, are experienced in and through the home in ways that impact health and wellbeing. Significantly, it connects home-life changes created during COVID-19 "lockdowns" with longer-term considerations of parent needs.

The Effect of Pandemic-Related Economic Disruption on Young Adolescents in Ireland.

The sudden health and economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic affords an opportunity to examine the impact of economic disruption to children and families. Any negative effects on the well-being of children are important to consider in relation to both short- and long-term outcomes. Using pre-pandemic and mid-pandemic waves of the longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland study, we examined whether the impact of economic disruption was equivalent for families who were (or were not) financially vulnerable pre-pandemic. We then investigated whether economic disruption was associated with a negative effect on the emotional well-being of 12-year-olds, and if there was evidence for such a negative effect being mediated through a lack of material resources or strain on family dynamics. Our results indicated that middle-income rather than lowest-income families experienced the most economic disruption, likely reflecting the sector-specific nature of business closures in the pandemic. Families who were financially vulnerable pre-pandemic were less likely to have had suitable resources for homeschooling. Both falls in income and strain in family relationships, such as arguing more with their parents, were associated with poorer scores on a measure of the child's emotional well-being. The emergency income support payment introduced at the start of the pandemic appeared to have a protective effect on the association between family income loss and child well-being, which has wider implications for policy on child poverty.

Parental evaluation of teachers' competences and characteristics during COVID-19 pandemic homeschooling.

With the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, school-related closures and the hasty transition into homeschooling, parents were required to take a more active and positive role than ever before in collaboration with their children's educators. Thus, with this unprecedented situation, parents became an important source of information during the pandemic. Considering this unique event, the study at hand aims to explore parents' perspectives regarding primary and upper secondary school teachers' digital competence, digital differentiated instruction, and feedback during the first SARS-CoV-2 school shutdown in Germany. Additionally, the study examined parents' evaluation of teachers' characteristics. Results reveal that parental ratings were generally positive. Moreover, parents with children attending primary schools perceived and evaluated teachers' digital competence and digital differentiated teaching highly, and perceived significantly more teacher feedback than parents whose children attend upper secondary school. In addition, positive correlations were found between parents' evaluations of teachers' feedback and how motivated, appreciative, and devoted teachers are perceived to be. Practical implications and further research areas are discussed.

Parent-child conflict during homeschooling in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: A key role for mothers' self-efficacy in teaching.

To contain the COVID-19 pandemic schools have been closed in many countries. Children stayed at home and were assisted by their parents with their schoolwork. Evidently, homeschooling puts extra demands on parents. We presumed that parents' sense of efficacy in teaching would play a key role in how they cope with this extra task of homeschooling. In particular, we hypothesized that parental characteristics (level of parental education and stress) and social contextual factors (household chaos and school support) would contribute to parents' teaching self-efficacy and that, in turn, a lower efficacy would result in more parent-child conflict during home schooling. Participants were 173 mothers of children in kindergarten or early elementary schools, who provided information for one of their children about interpersonal conflicts around schoolwork before and during school closure. Additionally, they reported on their self-efficacy in teaching, perceived stress during lockdown, home chaos, and school support. Path analyses indicated that mothers' perceived stress and household chaos were associated with a lower sense of efficacy in teaching, whereas school support, but not level of parental education, was related to a higher level of teaching self-efficacy. Higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs, in turn, were associated with a lower degree of mother-child conflict during schoolwork, even after controlling for prior levels of conflict. We discuss how the results of this study might be used to foster parents' self-efficacy in teaching and thereby decrease the amount of parent-child conflict during parents' support with schoolwork.

Overwhelmed by Learning in Lockdown: Effects of Covid-19-enforced Homeschooling on Parents' Wellbeing.

With the closure of schools due to the Covid-19-pandemic, parents of schoolchildren had to quickly adapt their daily schedules by taking over responsibilities of homeschooling for their children, while arranging their own schedule. This study first identifies the parents who are most challenged by having to ensure homeschooling responsibilities and then assesses how homeschooling affects different dimensions of parents' wellbeing. Analyzing data from a large general population-representative panel survey in Switzerland, we compare subjective wellbeing before the Covid-19-outbreak to wellbeing at the end of the semi-lockdown. Almost one fifth of parents report being sometimes overwhelmed by homeschooling obligations for their children. Women, mid-aged and lower-educated individuals as well as those with young children and a lower income are particularly overwhelmed. Being sometimes overwhelmed by homeschooling does not cause changes in life satisfaction, stress and negative affect. Yet, it leads to a decrease in positive affect. We derive recommendations for educational and public health policies.

Wellbeing, coping with homeschooling, and leisure behavior at different COVID-19-related lockdowns: A longitudinal study in 9- to 16-year-old German children.

Background: School closures are an effective measure against the spread of Covid-19. However, they pose a major challenge to children, especially to those from socially disadvantaged families. The present study compared the wellbeing, coping with homeschooling, and leisure behavior of children and adolescents at two different periods of school closures in Germany. Wellbeing was also compared with wellbeing before the pandemic. Methods: Within the framework of the cohort study LIFE Child, 152 9- to 16-year-old children completed online surveys on wellbeing (KIDSCREEN-27 scales on physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, and peer and social support), coping with homeschooling (concentration, motivation, fun, mastering of schoolwork, fear of bad marks), and leisure behavior (TV time, computer gaming time, indoor physical activity) during two COVID-19-related lockdowns in March 2020 (t1) and in January 2021 (t2). Data from both time points were compared using mixed-effect models. Wellbeing was additionally compared with the wellbeing in 2019, before COVID-19 (t0). We also assessed the effects of the socio-economic status (SES) on all outcomes and changes between time points. Results: All considered wellbeing scores declined significantly between t0 and t1. Physical wellbeing decreased further between t1 and t2, while social support increased. Coping with homeschooling degraded significantly between t1 and t2, while leisure behavior did not change significantly. Lower SES was associated with lower physical wellbeing, poorer coping with homeschooling, longer computer gaming times, and a stronger decrease of concentration on schoolwork from t1 to t2. Conclusion: Repeated school closures have a negative effect on already compromised physical wellbeing and coping with homeschooling, especially in children from lower social strata.

Changes in Feeding Behavior and Feeding Stress Among Mothers of Preschoolers Before and During the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic.

Objective: To examine changes in maternal feeding behaviors (MFB) and maternal feeding stress (MFS) among mothers of preschoolers in Saudi Arabia before and during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study including 64 mothers of preschoolers who were drawn from a sample of a 2019 study. Study questionnaire was completed during November-December 2020. MFB were assessed using the Child Feeding Questionnaire-Arabic (CFQ-A) and MFS was assessed using the MFS-mealtimes index and the MFS-maternal resentment/difficult child index. Paired samples t-tests were used to examine changes in MFB and MFS. Results: Mothers have reported an increase in perceived responsibility (M = 4.09, SD = 0.87 vs. M = 4.33, SD = 0.59, P-value < 0.05) and monitoring (M = 4.23, SD = 0.73 vs. M = 4.48, SD = 0.66, P-value < 0.05) during the pandemic period compared to the period prior to the pandemic. Mothers have reported a decrease in use of food as a reward (M = 4.11, SD = 0.87 vs. M = 2.30, SD = 0.88, P-value < 0.001) and concern about child's diet (M = 3.34, SD = 1.12 vs. M = 2.55, SD = 1.04, P-value <0.001). There was an increase in MFS-maternal resentment/difficult child (M = 2.47, SD = 0.68 vs. M = 2.71, SD = 0.72, P-value < 0.01). Conclusions: Findings can help inform future research aiming to measure the long-term effects of the pandemic on child outcomes.

Prior home learning environment is associated with adaptation to homeschooling during COVID lockdown.

The COVID-19 crisis in 2020 led to exceptional measures to contain the spread of the virus. In France as in many countries around the world, the government ordered a lockdown with school closure for several weeks. A growing number of studies suggest that family socio-economic status might be an important predictor of how families adapted to homeschooling during lockdown. However, socio-economic status is a distal factor that does not necessarily inform on the specific characteristics of the home learning environment that may more directly influence parental adaptation to homeschooling during lockdown. Here we aimed to examine how parental adaptation to homeschooling during lockdown was influenced by prior parental attitudes and expectations towards academic learning, as well as prior familiarity with literacy and numeracy activities at home. The present study involves 52 families who participated in a study about the home learning environment in 2018. At that time, parents completed an extensive questionnaire assessing their beliefs and attitudes towards academic learning and the frequency of literacy and numeracy activities are home. At the end of the first 2020 French lockdown, we again asked the same parents to complete a questionnaire, this time assessing homeschooling conditions during lockdown as well as parental confidence towards academic domains. Over and above a range of background variables, correlation analyses revealed that parental expectations towards academic learning as well as frequency of prior shared activities were related to daily homeschooling time during lockdown. Both parental attitudes and expectations towards numeracy and literacy were also related to parental confidence in homeschooling. Our results suggest that several aspects of the home learning environment may have influenced how families adapted to homeschooling during the 2020 COVID lockdown.

Psychosocial impacts of home-schooling on parents and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has been highly disruptive, with the closure of schools causing sudden shifts for students, educators and parents/caregivers to remote learning from home (home-schooling). Limited research has focused on home-schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic, with most research to date being descriptive in nature. The aim of the current study was to comprehensively quantify the psychosocial impacts of home-schooling on parents and other caregivers, and identify factors associated with better outcomes. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of 1,296 Australian adults was recruited at the beginning of Australian COVID-19 restrictions in late-March 2020, and followed up every two weeks. Data for the current study were drawn from waves two and three. Surveys assessed psychosocial outcomes of psychological distress, work and social impairment, and wellbeing, as well as a range of home-schooling factors. RESULTS: Parents and caregivers who were home-schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced significantly higher levels of psychological distress and work/social impairment compared to those who were not home-schooling or had no school-aged children. A current mental health diagnosis or lower levels of perceived support from their child's school negatively affected levels of psychological distress, work and social impairment, and wellbeing in parents and caregivers involved in home-schooling. CONCLUSIONS: The mental health impacts of home-schooling were high and may rise as periods of home-schooling increase in frequency and duration. Recognising and acknowledging the challenges of home-schooling is important, and should be included in psychosocial assessments of wellbeing during periods of school closure. Emotional and instrumental support is needed for those involved in home-schooling, as perceived levels of support is associated with improved outcomes. Proactive planning by schools to support parents may promote better outcomes and improved home-schooling experiences for students.

[School-related attitudes of children from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in the corona pandemic]. / Schulbezogene Einstellungen von Kindern aus bildungsfernen Milieus in der Corona-Pandemie.

There is widespread consensus that distance learning in lockdown discriminates children and young people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in particular. The gap between the privileged and the left-behind, which is already wide open in Germany, is widening more and more as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic. Empirical evidence for this pandemic-related effect is, however, still scarce, and the corresponding studies rarely include students themselves, and even less so those who are taught at schools in challenging situations. This paper reports on a quantitative study of elementary schools in particularly disadvantaged settings during the lockdown in spring 2021. It asks about individual attitudes and learning experiences of students during homeschooling. The goal was not to define a group of adolescents as disadvantaged and thus as disconnected, but to empirically investigate which individual factors, framework conditions, and mechanisms of action lead to some of these students being more successful in learning during the lockdown than others with initially equal starting conditions. The data analyses revealed four stable clusters, which are based on different forms of student agency and show potentials and opportunities to support students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds individually-in homeschooling and in face-to-face teaching.

Parental experiences of homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic: differences between seven European countries and between children with and without mental health conditions.

The aim of the present study was to examine parental experiences of homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic in families with or without a child with a mental health condition across Europe. The study included 6720 parents recruited through schools, patient organizations and social media platforms (2002 parents with a child with a mental health condition and 4718 without) from seven European countries: the UK (n = 508), Sweden (n = 1436), Spain (n = 1491), Belgium (n = 508), the Netherlands (n = 324), Germany (n = 1662) and Italy (n = 794). Many parents reported negative effects of homeschooling for themselves and their child, and many found homeschooling to be of poor quality, with insufficient support from schools. In most countries, contact with teachers was limited, leaving parents with primary responsibility for managing homeschooling. Parents also reported increased levels of stress, worry, social isolation, and domestic conflict. A small number of parents reported increased parental alcohol/drug use. Some differences were found between countries and some negative experiences were more common in families with a child with a mental health condition. However, differences between countries and between families with and without a mental health condition were generally small, indicating that many parents across countries reported negative experiences. Some parents also reported positive experiences of homeschooling. The adverse effects of homeschooling will likely have a long-term impact and contribute to increased inequalities. Given that school closures may be less effective than other interventions, policymakers need to carefully consider the negative consequences of homeschooling during additional waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics.

COVID-19 conversations: A qualitative study of majority Hispanic/Latinx youth experiences during early stages of the pandemic.

Background: Growing evidence informs about the detrimental impact that COVID-19 has had on youths' mental health and well-being. As of yet, no study has directly examined the experiences and perspectives of children and young adolescents from racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S., despite being exposed to more adversity, which may affect coping with the many challenges posed by the pandemic. Objective: This study aimed to give voice to a mostly Hispanic/Latinx group of youth regarding the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home measures and to identify their emotional responses and coping strategies amid the pandemic in the U.S. when restrictions were at their hardest. Method: A total of 17 youths (70.6 % Hispanic; age range = 10-14 years; 52.9 % female) participated in four virtual semi-structured focus groups for each grade level (grades 5-8). Data was transcribed and analyzed using a gold standard thematic analysis approach. Results: Seven themes were identified concerning the impact of COVID-19, centering around the impact of racism, loss of income, the role of community and family in coping with stress, information overload, home-schooling, loneliness and boredom, and lack of structured routines. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cultural factors (e.g., collectivism and familism) in Hispanic communities may offer important buffering during COVID-19. Future research studies evaluating the implementation of structured programs that provide a space to talk about emotions and thoughts related to the impact of the pandemic and training in strategies to cope with distress during mandatory home-schooling are needed.