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Reviews of "Supporting Families to Protect Child Health: Parenting Quality and Household Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic"

Reviewers: Anne Shaffer (University of Georgia) | πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“— ◻️ β€’ Kathleen McGoron (Wayne State University) | πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“— ◻️

Published onOct 11, 2020
Reviews of "Supporting Families to Protect Child Health: Parenting Quality and Household Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic"
key-enterThis Pub is a Review of
Supporting Families to Protect Child Health: Parenting Quality and Household Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Description

Background: Supportive parenting is critical for promoting healthy child development in the face of stressors, such as those occurring during COVID-19. Here, we address a knowledge gap regarding specific household risk factors associated with parenting quality during the pandemic and incorporate first-person accounts of family challenges and needs. Methods: Mixed methods were applied to data collected between April 14th - 28th, 2020 from the β€œParenting During the Pandemic” survey. Participants included 656 primary caregivers (e.g., mothers, fathers, foster parents) of least one child age 1.5-8 years of which 555 (84.6%) responded to at least one parenting questionnaire. Parenting quality was assessed across stressful, negative, and positive parenting dimensions. Household risk was examined across pandemic-linked (e.g., caregiver depression, unmet childcare needs) and stable factors (i.e., annual income, mental illness history). Significant correlates were examined with regressions in Mplus. Thematic analysis identified caregiver challenges and unmet needs from open-ended questions.Findings: Caregiver depression, higher child parity, unmet childcare needs, and relationship distress predicted lower-quality parenting. Caregiver depression was the most significant predictor across every parenting dimension, with analyses indicating medium effect sizes, ds = .39 - .73. Qualitative findings highlighted severe strains on parent capacities including managing psychological distress, limited social supports, and too much unstructured time.Interpretations: Lower quality parenting during COVID-19 is associated with multiple household and pandemic risk factors, with caregiver depression consistently linked to parent-child relationship disruptions. Focused efforts are needed to address caregiver mental health to protect child health as part of the pandemic response.

To read the original manuscript, click the link above.

Summary of Reviews: This study presents a generally reliable analysis of data on the effects of stressors on parenting practices during the pandemic, however, inherent limitations of the study design and the need for more detail may undermine its generalizability.

Reviewer 1 (Anne Shaffer) | πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—β—»οΈ

Reviewer 2 (Kathleen McGoron) | πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—β—»οΈ

RR:C19 Strength of Evidence Scale Key

πŸ“• ◻️◻️◻️◻️ = Misleading

πŸ“™πŸ“™ ◻️◻️◻️ = Not Informative

πŸ“’πŸ“’πŸ“’ ◻️◻️ = Potentially Informative

πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—πŸ“—β—»οΈ = Reliable

πŸ“˜πŸ“˜πŸ“˜πŸ“˜πŸ“˜ = Strong

To read the reviews, click the links below.

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