Caregiver Decisions Regarding Young Children’s Schooling and Daycare During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Exploration

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created many stressors for individuals worldwide, including significant disruptions to work and school settings. Families in the U.S. report these school- and work-related stressors are more significant for those with children (Cluver et al., 2020; Park et al., 2020; Russel et al., 2020). Researchers have begun to explore the pandemic’s effects on child well-being and mental health (Golberstein et al., 2020; Xie et al., 2020), but there is a significant lack of information concerning the impact on parent and family well-being. Schools around the country began to close in mid-March, and some have remained closed. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2020), 56.4 million K-12 students were projected to start classes again in the fall of 2020, and 19% of all schools offered entirely online courses. Given the large population of children and families impacted by school and daycare closures, it is valuable and pertinent to report on how families have made and coped with their school and daycare decisions and the impact of these decisions on families of young children.
Objectives:
• Describe the impact COVID-19 had on families regarding decisions about their young children’s schooling and/or daycare of their children
• Explore factors contributing to caregivers’ decision-making process in returning their young children to school and/or daycare
Methods and Analysis Plans: Caregivers of young children (ages 12 and below) were recruited from the U.S., Canada, and international countries to complete a survey about their decision-process in their child’s schooling or daycare (N = 1,655). This project will analyze a subset of those participants (N = 965) who provided qualitative data detailing their feelings about their children’s schooling, the toll COVID-19 has taken in their professional lives, and how their communities are handling the pandemic. We will derive codes from this data using a traditional approach to qualitative data analysis. Our research team will code the data to establish inter-rater reliability (IRR), using Cohen’s Kappa or Krippendorpff’s Alpha to obtain at least an 80% agreement of the data. We will then examine factors impacting family decisions on the schooling or care of their child(ren) in three broad categories: child-related factors (e.g. child health, educational history, socialization); family-related factors (e.g. parent profession, underlying health conditions); and epidemiological factors (local COVID-19 risk and guidelines).
Implications: This study seeks to inform the scientific community about COVID-19’s impact on families of young children in school or daycare. This study also has clinical implications, as it will unpack the factors leading to caregivers’ stress and well-being during this unprecedented time in history. This study will contribute to the emerging literature on COVID-19 and its impact on society both in the U.S. and abroad.
Feasibility: The completion of this project is feasible by the conference date as our data has already been collected and is currently being analyzed by the research team.

Authors

• Hannah McKinney, Harding University
  Presenting Author

• Taylor Davis, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kali Brewer, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Harlee Onovbiona, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rebecca Scott Bradley, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauren Quetsch, West Virginia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carrie Jackson, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author