Parenting in Physical Distancing: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Experiences, Home Learning Environment, and Parental Stress in China

• In Event: The Covid-19 pandemic impact on parenting of young children in the U.S., China, and Israel

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: China was the first country to report the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to mandate families to self-isolate at home. The strict nationwide physical distancing quarantine from January through May 2020 affected millions of Chinese preschoolers and their parents. This study aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 physical distancing quarantine on Chinese families with young children by focusing on: 1) Chinese parents’ experience during the prolonged quarantine, 2) the home learning environment for young children during the quarantine; and 3) parental stress associated with family SES, family’s exposure to COVID-19, physical distancing time, and home activities.

HYPOTHESIS: It is hypothesized that Chinese parents experience higher stress when they have more exposure to COVID-19, longer physical-distancing time at home, and lower family income, and if they provide more frequent learning activities at home that demand their authoritarian guidance to children.

STUDY POPULATION: In May 2020, researchers recruited a total of 2,784 parents with preschool-age children from child care centers in four Chinese cities: Changsha (Hunan), Wenzhou (Zhejiang), Jilin (Jilin), and Baoding (Hebei).

METHOD: A one-time online survey method was utilized to gather data on parents’ demographic background, parents’ experiences during the pandemic (personal and community job status, direct and community exposure to COVID-19 diagnoses and hospitalizations, duration of physical distancing, and support received from teachers and community), home learning environment (types and frequencies of home activities), parents’ perceived changes in children’s behaviors, parents’ self-perceived changes in well-being, and parental stress measured by the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF, Haskett, Ahern, Ward & Allaire, 2006).

RESULTS: The majority of the Chinese parents reported low- or medium-level impact of the pandemic on family routines and parent-child interactions. The pandemic did slightly shift the nature of home learning environment for children. The most frequently occurring daily activity for children during the pandemic was electronic entertaining activities, followed by literacy and motor activities. Science, math and art activities occurred less frequently. The alarming increase of electronic entertaining activity was positively associated with families’ community exposure to COVID-19 and the length of physical distancing quarantine time. Teacher support focused on children’s learning activities but not so much on family education related to parenting practice and the frequency of electronic entertaining activity. Overall, parental stress related to the PSI-SF domain of children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties increased significantly during the pandemic. Parents’ educational level was the most significant predictor of parental stress and home activities. Parents with higher education had lower stress in parent-child dysfunctional interactions and children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties, provided more frequent learning activities at home, and reported more changes in children’s behaviors and their own emotional and relational wellbeing. Parents’ with more direct and community exposure to COVID-19 reported higher levels of parental stress in the general emotional state and children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties. The frequencies of learning-focused home activities showed significant negative associations with parental stress. Parents’ gender, children’s age, or the length of physical-distancing time was not statistically significantly associated with any variables indicating parents’ stress during the pandemic.

Authors

• Wei Qiu, Weber State University
  Presenting Author

• Chenyi Zhang, Georgia State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hongli Li, Georgia State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Juan Li, Wenzhou University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Liying Zhang, Hebei University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Xueyan Li, Jilin Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jia Li, Changsha Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author