scholarly journals Parenting during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Portugal: Changes in Daily Routines, Co-Parenting Relationships, Emotional Experiences, and Support Networks

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1124
Author(s):  
Ana P. Antunes ◽  
Silvana Martins ◽  
Laura Magalhães ◽  
Ana T. Almeida

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged parental resources pertinent to coping with lockdowns. The main objective of this work was to study parenting during the COVID-19 lockdown. Specifically at focus were parental behaviors concerning key domains for the family (daily routine, co-parenting, emotional experience, and support network) and changes related to the pandemic and associated with the parents’ employment statuses. An online survey was carried out through an ad hoc questionnaire where participants completed questions about their sociodemographic data and rated how much their family routines, their co-parenting relationship, their emotional experiences, and the support available in the family network varied on a 5-point scale. The participants included 1384 parents, of which 286 responded to open questions regarding impactful experiences during the lockdown. The results showed differences in daily routine, co-parenting, emotional experience, and support network according to the parents’ employment statuses. Between-group comparisons showed that at-home parents caring for children with governmental aids generally revealed more positive parenting behavior changes, while at-home parents who were teleworking reported more difficulties in parent-child activities and co-parenting. Furthermore, the content analysis of the data confirmed how important themes such as family dynamics, professional activities, and the relationship with the school community were throughout the participants’ accounts of gains and losses. Overall, parents’ employment statuses are associated with diverse experiences during lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of family resources and parental resilience, particularly during circumstances jeopardizing the ever-sensitive work-family balance.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mai Sabry Saleh

Purpose Mental health is one of the aspects seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governmental preventive measures worldwide disturbed people’s daily routine, social activities, access to education and even impacted their working environment. The present work aims at screening the expected negative effects on mental and psychological wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was introduced through an internet-based platform to assess mental wellbeing (MW) and stress among Egyptian adults using SHORT Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and Falsification of Type Scale, respectively. Socio-demographics were also collected. Data from 150 respondents through the period from May 25 till June 1 were tabulated and statistical analyses were performed. Findings More than 70% of respondents declared jobs being affected by the pandemic. Females showed deteriorated state of mental health, together with the youth (≤44 years) and those who lost their jobs or suffered reduced income. In conclusion, mental health as expressed by MW and stress showed to be affected among the Egyptian adults due to the “stay at home” orders. Prompt actions are highly recommended to save vulnerable populations at the time being and from the aggravation of their mental problems in the long term. Originality/value The study is the first in Egypt figuring out affected populations and vulnerable categories that need extra care in the future. It provides valuable data and expresses reasonable explanations to the obtained findings. The study also introduces recommendations and highlights hot topics for future research.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neuzeli Maria de Almeida Pinto ◽  
Fernando Augusto Ramos Pontes ◽  
Simone Souza da Costa Silva

The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of the routines of women who live in Amazon riverside communities, identifying the roles and activities related to domestic work, açaí gathering and actions in community associations. The participants were three women from two island communities in Belem, Ilha Grande and Combu, who earn their living solely from açaí gathering, work at home and in community associations. The instruments used were the sociodemographic schedule (ISD), the Inventory of Routine (IR) and Field Diary (DC). All activities are defined by gender. Although riparian women follow the rigid family concepts of gender division in regards to labor, the participation women in paid professional activities, in this case, açaí gathering, has increased. The woman’s place in riparian family structure is considered dynamic and encompasses a cluster of systems that maintain interdependent relationships. In this sense, the context acts as a facilitator for development, producing constancy and change in the characteristics of riverside women and during the course of her life, family and community.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Caroline Dias ◽  
Sonia Silva Marcon ◽  
Pamela dos Reis ◽  
Iven Giovanna Trindade Lino ◽  
Aline Cristiane Cavicchioli Okido ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT: Objective: To describe the family dynamics and the social support network for families of children with special needs of multiple, complex and continuous care. Methods: A descriptive study of a qualitative approach, carried out in Maringá - PR, having as theoretical and methodological reference the Calgary Model of Family Assessment (CMFA). Data was collected through semi-structured audio-video interviews, carried out in the homes, together with 11 family caregivers of 13 children. Results: Data is presented in the following categories: structural, developmental and functional evaluation, which show the changes in the family routine and the needs for the adjustment of the roles of its members, in order to better implement the care at home. Conclusions: Using the CMFA made it possible to identify and understand the composition, fragilities and potentialities of the family, as well as the relationships among its members and rearrangements to better enable care at home. This information favors interventions congruent with the needs of these families.


Author(s):  
Maria Cusinato ◽  
Sara Iannattone ◽  
Andrea Spoto ◽  
Mikael Poli ◽  
Carlo Moretti ◽  
...  

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has forced parents and children to adopt significant changes in their daily routine, which has been a big challenge for families, with important implications for family stress. In this study, we aimed to analyze the potential risk and protective factors for parents’ and children’s well-being during a potentially traumatic event such as the COVID-19 quarantine. Specifically, we investigated parents’ and children’s well-being, parental stress, and children’s resilience. The study involved 463 Italian parents of children aged 5–17. All participants completed an online survey consisting of the Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWB) to assess parental well-being, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to measure children’s well-being, the Parent Stress Scale (PSS) to investigate parental stress, and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-R) to measure children’s resilience. The results show that confinement measures and changes in daily routine negatively affect parents’ psychological dimensions, thus exposing children to a significant risk for their well-being. Our results also detect some risk factors for psychological maladjustments, such as parental stress, lower levels of resilience in children, changes in working conditions, and parental psychological, physical, or genetic problems. In this study, we attempted to identify the personal and contextual variables involved in the psychological adjustment to the COVID-19 quarantine to identify families at risk for maladjustment and pave the way for ad hoc intervention programs intended to support them. Our data show promising results for the early detection of the determinants of families’ psychological health. It is important to focus attention on the needs of families and children—including their mental health—to mitigate the health and economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Elena Cavallini ◽  
Alessia Rosi ◽  
Floris Tijmen van Vugt ◽  
Irene Ceccato ◽  
Filippo Rapisarda ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Studies on age differences in emotional states during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that older adults experienced greater emotional wellbeing compared to younger adults. We hypothesized these age differences to be related to the perception of closeness to family/friends or the engagement in daily activities during the pandemic. Aim To investigate age differences in positive and negative emotional experiences and whether the perception of closeness to family/friends and the engagement in daily activities during pandemic explained such age-related differences. Methods Through a cross-sectional study, 1,457 adults aged 18–87 years old completed an online survey assessing positive and negative emotional experiences, the perception of more closeness to family/friends, and daily activities that participants started/re-started during the pandemic. Results Increasing age was associated with more positive and less negative emotional experiences. Age differences in positive emotional experience were explained by the perception of more closeness to friends and not by the engagement in daily activities. For negative emotional experience age, differences remained significant even after accounting for the perception of closeness to family/friends and engagements in daily activities. Discussion Older adults’ greater overall level of positive emotional experience was explained by their greater perception of more closeness to friends. We speculate that social closeness provides a coping mechanism to increase emotional wellbeing employed especially in older adults. Conclusion Our findings reinforce the link between perceived social closeness and emotional wellbeing especially in older adults. To cope with stressful situation, it is important to encourage older adults to increase the closeness to their social network.


2020 ◽  
pp. 136700692090990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Wilson

Aim and objectives: The present study investigates parental language beliefs and management among French-English bilingual families in the UK. It addresses the following two research questions. (a) What are parents’ attitudes towards translanguaging and beliefs about effective language management? (b) Do these beliefs and attitudes translate into language separation strategies versus flexible language practices? Design/methodology: This paper reports part of the results of a mixed-method study consisting of an online survey as well as multiple in-depth case studies. The qualitative portion of the present article focuses on two case studies including face-to-face interviews and observations in the family home. Data and analysis: Responses to the online questionnaire ( n = 164) were analysed using descriptive statistics. Thematic analysis was used for interview data. Observations were analysed through the Family Language Policy framework and by looking at turn-taking sequences and meta-linguistic comments. Results: Parental ideologies appear to have evolved towards more positive attitudes towards language mixing. However, these positive attitudes towards translanguaging do not necessarily result in flexible language practices at home. Findings/conclusions: Language separation strategies such as one parent–one language may be adopted not as a result of ideologies, but despite parents’ beliefs about the flexible nature of bilingualism and owing to the pressure experienced by parents to develop children’s heritage language (HL) proficiency. Originality: The findings contradict previous studies, which reported the predominance of monoglossic language ideologies among middle-class parents. They suggest that parental language beliefs may have evolved and that a translingual ideology is making its way into multilingual families. Significance/implications: The study suggests that practical support in the form of additional sources of HL input, rather than theoretical guidance, would be required for parents to embrace flexible language management at home. The present study findings also highlight the dilemma parents face between prioritising their children’s bilingual development and fostering a harmonious bilingual environment for their families.


Crisis ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Batterham ◽  
Alison L. Calear ◽  
Helen Christensen

Background: There are presently no validated scales to adequately measure the stigma of suicide in the community. The Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS) is a new scale containing 58 descriptors of a “typical” person who completes suicide. Aims: To validate the SOSS as a tool for assessing stigma toward suicide, to examine the scale’s factor structure, and to assess correlates of stigmatizing attitudes. Method: In March 2010, 676 staff and students at the Australian National University completed the scale in an online survey. The construct validity of the SOSS was assessed by comparing its factors with factors extracted from the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ). Results: Three factors were identified: stigma, isolation/depression, and glorification/normalization. Each factor had high internal consistency and strong concurrent validity with the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire. More than 25% of respondents agreed that people who suicided were “weak,” “reckless,” or “selfish.” Respondents who were female, who had a psychology degree, or who spoke only English at home were less stigmatizing. A 16-item version of the scale also demonstrated robust psychometric properties. Conclusions: The SOSS is the first attitudes scale designed to directly measure the stigma of suicide in the community. Results suggest that psychoeducation may successfully reduce stigma.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 591-601
Author(s):  
Akansha Kishen ◽  
Anjali A K ◽  
Brundha M P ◽  
Muralidharan N P

Covid 19 is considered to be a pandemic virus infection. SARS-Cov-2 causes it. It is a viral infection that is transmitted through aerosol and droplet contamination, cross-infection, etc. Dentists are at a higher risk due to this corona. It has affected daily routines of dentist's life as they are unavailable to run the clinic and attend to patients. Different search engines like PubMed, and Google Scholar was used. The questionnaire consisting of twenty questions was prepared by using online survey google forms and circulated among the participants. SPSS software was used to evaluate the results and data collection. Statistical analysis was done by chi-square test. Later, results were being tabulated. This survey that is taken among dental students, dentists, and random public, it is seen that the majority of them are well aware of this recent pandemic attack. (COVID-19). It is concluded that dentists are affected to a significant extent due to coronavirus as their daily routine is affected severely. This study aims to identify the effect on dentist life on a routine basis due to the pandemic COVID - 19.


Author(s):  
Adrianos Golemis ◽  
Panteleimon Voitsidis ◽  
Eleni Parlapani ◽  
Vasiliki A Nikopoulou ◽  
Virginia Tsipropoulou ◽  
...  

Summary COVID-19 and the related quarantine disrupted young adults’ academic and professional life, daily routine and socio-emotional well-being. This cross-sectional study focused on the emotional and behavioural responses of a young adult population during the COVID-19-related quarantine in April 2020, in Greece. The study was conducted through an online survey. A total of 1559 young adults, aged 18−30 years, completed Steele’s Social Responsibility Motivation Scale and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and answered questions about compliance with instructions, quarantine-related behaviours and coping strategies. According to the results, participants displayed a relatively high sense of social responsibility (M = 16.09, SD = 2.13) and a trend towards moderate feeling of loneliness (M = 2.65, SD = 1.62); young women reported significantly higher levels of loneliness than men. The majority complied with instructions often (46.4%) or always (44.8%). Significantly more women created a new social media account and used the social media longer than 5 h/day, compared with men. Resorting to religion, practicing sports and sharing thoughts and feelings about COVID-19 with others predicted higher levels of social responsibility; humour, practicing sports and sharing thoughts and feelings about COVID-19 with others predicted lower levels of loneliness. Conclusively, COVID-19 is expected to have a significant psychological impact on young adults. Currently, Greece is going through the second quarantine period. This study raises awareness about loneliness in young adults during the COVID-19-related quarantine and highlights the importance of developing online programmes, attractive to younger people, to nurture adaptive coping strategies against loneliness.


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