Stress, online courses and parenting during COVID19 pandemic

In March 2020, the World Health Organisation declares a pandemic of infection with the novel coronavirus (nCoV) COVID-19 and on 23rd of April the first official report on its evolution and effects emerges. A state of medical emergency and quarantine is imposed in all affected countries. This study proposed a research of what parenting entails and which are the implications of parenting in a crisis context for young people, particularly how perceived parental support and perceived support work on the relationship between stress on one hand, and depression and anxiety on the other hand, especially for those who study online due to context. The proposed sample consists of 104 students aged 18 to 25. Participants self-reported on their attitude towards online school, perceived stress levels, perceived parental and maternal support and anxiety and depression levels. The procedure consists of completing online questionnaires. The statistical procedure used is the mediation analysis. The results show that there is a partial mediation effect of perceived parental support and perceived parental support in the relationship between stress and anxiety, and the attitude towards the online academic races leave to an increase in perceived stress levels. These results could be used for programs to prevent the negative effects associated with online school and the effects of long-term social isolation, as well as for psychological education and parenting programs in emergency situation.

Out of control? How parents’ perceived lack of control over children’s smartphone use affects children’s self-esteem over time

As a consequence of children’s nearly ubiquitous smartphone use, many parents experience resignation or frustration due to a perceived loss of control over their child’s excessive smartphone activities. This perceived lack of control may not only increase children’s risk of exposure to online harassment but also affect the relationship between parents and children—both crucial influence factors for children’s self-esteem. We tested these relationships using a two-wave panel study of children between 10 and 14 years ( NT2 = 384) and one of their parents. Findings revealed that parental lack of control over their child’s smartphone use increased the risk of children becoming victims of online harassment and decreased children’s perceived parental support over time. However, while lower perceived parental control decreased children’s self-esteem over time, exposure to online harassment did not. We discuss implications of these findings for intervention and prevention of parental lack of control over children’s smartphone use.

Parental control and support for physical activity predict adolescents’ moderate to vigorous physical activity over five years

Background Social factors are important determinants of youth physical activity (PA), but the longitudinal association between parental behaviours and adolescent PA has not been clearly assessed. This prospective study examined average and lagged associations between perceived parental support and control with adolescents’ moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA); and assessed the independent associations between specific parental support and control behaviours and adolescents’ MVPA. Methods Data from three cycles of the MATCH study, when 374 participants were 12, 16 and 17 years old, were included in this analysis. At each cycle, participants self-reported questionnaires on perceived tangible parental support, intangible support, and control behaviours as well as number of days per week attaining at least 60 min of MVPA. Mixed effect models were used to assess the longitudinal relationship between parental behaviours and MVPA. Cross-lagged panel design was used to assess the association of parental behaviours during early adolescence with MVPA during late adolescence. Results Overall parental support (coef. = 0.46, P < 0.0001), tangible support (coef. = 0.37, P < 0.0001), encouragement (coef. = 0.12, P = 0.025) and transportation (coef. = 0.25, P < 0.0001) were positively associated with MVPA, whereas parental control was a negative predictor of MVPA (coef. = − 0.18, P = 0.003). Perceived parental behaviours appeared to have long term associations (5 y.) with MVPA as parent support (coef. = 0.40, P = 0.006) and co-participation (coef. = 0.33, P = 0.017) reported around age 12 were positively associated with MVPA measured 5 years later. Conclusions Parental support for PA, particularly in the form of tangible support, may be a key factor to include in interventions aiming to promote PA during adolescence. In contrast, parents should be encouraged to avoid control behaviours as these appear to lead to lower MVPA among adolescents.

The Link between Parental Support and Adolescent Negative Mood in Daily Life: between-Person Heterogeneity in within-Person Processes

Lack of parental support is related to more adolescent negative mood. However, little is known about how fluctuations of parental support relate to fluctuations of negative mood within adolescents in daily life. The current study aimed to elucidate these processes at a day to day micro-level and examined to which extent adolescents would differ in the association between perceived parental support and adolescent negative mood. The sample consisted of 242 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 13.82, 63.2% female) who completed ecological momentary assessments of 3 weeks 3 months apart. Results from the multilevel regression analyses showed that, on average, adolescents experienced higher levels of negative mood on days when they perceived their parents to be less supportive. Substantial individual differences were found in this association, however, these were partially explained by the level of depressive symptoms and perceived parental intrusiveness. These findings suggest that advice on parental support should be tailored to the unique characteristics of the adolescent.

Perceived physical fitness mediates the relationship between parental support and physical activity enjoyment in overweight and obese adolescents

The relationship between parental support and physical activity enjoyment appears to be mediated by individual-level factors. The aim of this study was to examine whether the relationship between perceived parental support and physical activity enjoyment is mediated by overweight and obese adolescents’ physical fitness, both subjectively and objectively assessed. A total of 163 participants (mean age =14.30 years, 55.8% boys) with an average body mass index of 28.97 kg/m2 took part in this study. Participants completed a questionnaire of parental influence regarding physical activity, a questionnaire of physical self-perception and several fitness tests (cardiorespiratory fitness, lower limbs muscular strength and flexibility) using the ALPHA-fitness battery. The results showed that relationship between perceived parental support and physical activity enjoyment is mediated by the overweight and obese adolescents’ perceived cardiorespiratory fitness and flexibility. We suggest to create educational guidelines for parents to increase the support and improve overweight and obese students’ positive perceived physical competence, in order to achieve a greater adherence to physical activity and greater physical activity enjoyment.