Daycare during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Stress in Parents of Toddlers

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

With the COVID-19 pandemic changing the landscape of the United States, there is emerging evidence of heightened stress levels among parents (APA, 2020). However, minimal research has focused on parenting stress in parents of toddlers during the pandemic and whether those stress levels differ with parent age. In addition, the closing of many daycares during the pandemic means caregivers have been spending more time at home with their toddlers while still attempting to work, possibly contributing to additional stress on parents. We investigated the associations between parent age, toddler hours per week in daycare, and stress about parenting and COVID-19 during the pandemic. We hypothesized that parenting stress and COVID-19 stress would both decrease with toddler time in daycare (Bigras et al., 2012), and that this effect would be strongest in younger parents. 116 parents (109 mothers, 7 fathers) of 18- to 36-month-olds (M=25.0, SD=4.8, 65 female) completed an online survey. Parenting stress was measuring using the Parental Stress Scale (PSS; Berry & Jones, 1995), an 18-item Likert-scale questionnaire that captures perceived stress specific to parenting. COVID-19 stress was measured by parent response to a single 5-point Likert-scale item in a larger survey that asked: “How stressful has the COVID-19 pandemic been for you overall?” Parent age and toddler hours per week in daycare were collected via parent-report. Families were predominantly White non-Hispanic/Latinx, with an average annual household income of $128,281 (SD=$63,648). 41% of the children did not attend daycare and hours in daycare per week ranged from 5 to 55 hours (M=17.88, SD=17.76). The majority of parents reported finding the pandemic moderately or very stressful overall and the mean parenting stress in this sample (M=36.95, SD=8.45) was similar to that of previous non-clinical samples (Berry & Jones, 1995). Parent age was significantly negatively associated with parenting stress (r=-0.24, p=0.01), such that parenting stress was lower in older parents (Figure 1). The number of hours per week a child spent in daycare was not associated with parenting stress (r=-0.05, p=0.57), nor did time in daycare moderate the association between parent age and parenting stress (B=-0.001, p=0.89). In terms of COVID-19 stress, neither parent age (r=0.09, p=0.33) nor the amount of time a child spent in daycare were associated with COVID-19 stress (r=-0.07, p=0.43). During the pandemic, the amount of time toddlers spent in daycare was not associated with parenting stress nor COVID-19 stress in financially well-resourced families. Parenting stress was lower in older parents, highlighting the need for greater support for younger parents.

Authors

• Abigail Grace Peterson, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Emily Reilly, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bonny Donzella, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shanna B. Mliner, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author

• Megan R. Gunnar, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author