Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on parental stress and parenting practices during quarantine

Abstract

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a potentially fatal disease that is caused by SARS-COV2. Various types of stress have developed during the COVID-19 pandemic and have confronted many parents with challenging tasks. In aim of this study was to assess the parental stress during COVID-19 quarantine and its impact on the parenting practices during this critical period. Patients and methods This was a cross-sectional study in which 194 participants (parents of children aged 3–12 years) were recruited using a convenience and snowball sampling method through some Facebook and WhatsApp groups targeting parents with the required age. Cohen-Perceived Stress Scale Parenting practices during COVID-19-related questions were used to assess parenting stress and practices. Results More than two-thirds of participants were stressed (67%) according to the perceived stress scale. There was statistically significant difference between the age group of parents and perceived stress, P- value of 0.032. There was statistically significant difference between perceived stress and ways of punishment with a P value of 0.03. Majority of parents encouraged hobbies (71.1%) while less than half of the parents talked kindly with children, played with them, and described what happened to them (47.4, 41.8, and 46.4%, respectively). Conclusion Parental stress during quarantine is a significant risk factor on child abuse and maltreatment. It significantly affects the different domains of the parenting practices which consequently affect the child’s behavior.