Home-schooling and caring for children during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK: emotional states, systems of support and coping strategies in working mothers.

Introduction: We examined the experience of the intensification of home-schooling and/or childcare in working mothers in the United Kingdom during the first national COVID-19 lockdown. Our focus was on understanding how mothers dealt with this challenging period both emotionally and practically. Methods: Eligible mothers (n = 47; Mage = 39.6) participated in an anonymous online survey of openended questions. Results: Thematic analysis of responses showed that mothers found home-schooling and/or childcare to be challenging. This was particularly notable in situations where support from partners, schools, and workplaces was limited. For single working mothers, the absence of support resources was especially impactful. Mothers often felt overly stressed trying to balance work and family responsibilities, guilty for not meeting their child's needs, and were worried over their child's well-being and academic progress and over increasing work demands. Common strategies mothers used to cope with the challenges of home-schooling and/or childcare included adopting a positive outlook, implementing flexible family structures, increasing family connectedness, and negotiating alternative partnership models. Discussion: The intensification of home-schooling and/or childcare during the lockdown in the United Kingdom negatively affected maternal well-being, particularly due to limited support. These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing maternal wellbeing in post-pandemic recovery efforts. Additionally, they highlight the social dimension of maternal wellbeing and suggest a comprehensive approach to support it that includes both timely access to intervention for mental health but also implementing family-friendly work policies and offering support with childcare and children's learning as essential measures.

Psychosocial strain and coping of Finnish working mothers during the COVID-19 lockdown: a job demand-control approach.

Introduction: In March 2020 many countries around the world, including Finland, implemented lockdown measures to mitigate the unprecedented impacts of the coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) on public health. As a result, school and daycare settings closed indefinitely and working from home became the new normal for a big part of the workforce, which came with increased homeschooling and childcare responsibility for mothers. Methods: In this article we present the findings from maternal responses to open ended questions on psychosocial well-being, and experiences of combining work, family life and homeschooling during the COVID-19 national lockdown in Finland in March-May 2020. Working mothers' responses (n = 72) were analyzed through the lens of Karasek's job demand-control model, focusing on how the mothers experienced the demands of their life during the lockdown, and how they saw their possibilities to control the situation. Results: The findings indicated important variation in the level of experienced demand and control and associated compensatory factors during the COVID-19 lockdown across different subgroups of working mothers. Discussion: The findings have implications for understanding strain and plausible supports among working mothers during the COVID-19 lockdown as well as in the face of acute adversity including the next possible public health crisis.

The impact of the initial COVID-19 lockdown on the mental health and lifestyle of children in Turkey / Impacto del confinamiento por COVID-19 en los cambios de salud mental de los niños en Turquía

The COVID-19 lockdown and subsequent school closures increased children’s mental health difficulties and associated risk of school exclusion. The present study examined the changes in children’s daily habits, and emotional and behavioral symptoms during the first national lockdown in 2020 as compared to before. A total of 854 caregivers living in Turkey with children aged 5 to 12 years completed a survey. The results showed that children spent significantly more time using screens, and less time engaging in physical activity during the lockdown compared to before. Additionally, one in three children were reported as feeling bored. Approximately half of the children were reported to show signs of nervousness, anger, anxiety, worry, restlessness, irritability, argumentativeness, and fear of infection. The children whose caregivers reported more family coexistence difficulty, higher risk of COVID-19 infection, poorer mental health, and high parenting role stress experienced higher levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties during the lockdown as compared to before. Children’s pandemic-related emotional symptoms increased with age. Our findings suggested that the COVID-19 lockdown in Turkey had a negative impact on children’s socioemotional and behavioral wellbeing with pre-adolescents being at higher risk of emotional change during the lockdown. These findings can guide early prevention and intervention programs to address child mental health symptoms in Turkey. (AU)

La pandemia de la COVID-19 y el posterior cierre de las escuelas aumentaron las dificultades de salud mental de los niños y el riesgo asociado de exclusión escolar. El presente estudio examinó los cambios en los hábitos diarios de los niños y los síntomas emocionales y conductuales durante el primer cierre nacional de 2020 en comparación con el anterior. Un total de 854 cuidadores que viven en Turquía con niños de 5 a 12 años completaron una encuesta. Los resultados mostraron que los niños pasaron significativamente más tiempo usando pantallas y menos tiempo realizando actividades físicas durante ese tiempo en comparación con el anterior. Además, el 78,5% de los niños fueron reportados por sus cuidadores como aburridos. Aproximadamente la mitad de los niños mostraron signos de nerviosismo, enfado, ansiedad, preocupación, inquietud, irritabilidad, discusiones y miedo a las infecciones. Los hijos de los cuidadores que declararon tener más dificultades de convivencia familiar, peor salud mental y un elevado estrés en el rol de padres experimentaron mayores niveles de dificultades emocionales y de comportamiento durante el encierro en comparación con los anteriores. El alto riesgo de infección por COVID-19 por parte de los cuidadores se asoció con mayores niveles de dificultades emocionales y conductuales en los niños durante el encierro que antes. Nuestros resultados sugieren que el bloqueo por COVID-19 en Turquía tuvo un impacto negativo en el bienestar socioemocional y conductual de los niños. (AU)

Caregiver Worry of Infection and Family Co-existence Difficulty and Association With Change in Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms During the Initial COVID-19 Lockdown in the UK and Turkey.

The study examined whether caregiver worry of COVID-19 infection and co-existence difficulty differentially predicted child mental health and wellbeing during the lockdown in two culturally different countries that were severely affected by the pandemic: the UK and Turkey. Co-existence difficulty is the hardship experienced by family members living all together in the same house at the same time during the lockdown period. Participants were 1849 caregivers of children between 5- and 12-years old living in the UK (n = 995) and Turkey (n = 854), who completed an electronic survey distributed via social networks during the initial phase of the COVID-19 lockdown (July and August 2020). Caregivers completed a set of questionnaires on child and family wellbeing and on whether the child's internalizing and externalizing symptoms changed during the lockdown as compared to before. Worry of COVID-19 infection was higher amongst caregivers in the Turkish sample and was associated with higher levels of child internalizing symptoms during the lockdown in the Turkish sample, however there were no statistically significant differences in the size of the impact of worry of infection on the children's internalizing symptoms between the two countries. Co-existence difficulty independently predicted increase in children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms during the lockdown in both samples. Families in the UK experienced a higher level of difficulty with co-existence compared to the families living in Turkey but the magnitude of the impact of co-existence difficulty on children's outcomes between the two samples was not significantly different.The findings suggest that public health strategies should aim to reduce social anxiety and invest in the development of programs aimed at supporting families to overcome the challenges of co-existence during times of public health crisis.

The Effectiveness of a Community-Based Mentoring Program for Children Aged 5-11 Years: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

The study, a two-arm, randomized controlled, parallel group, superiority trial, aimed to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of a 12-month one-to-one volunteer mentoring program designed to improve behavioral and emotional outcomes in children aged 5 to 11 years who have teacher- and parent/carer-reported behavioral difficulties. Participants were 246 children (123 intervention, 123 control; mean age 8.4 years; 87% boys) in five sites in London, UK, scoring in the "abnormal" range on the teacher-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Total Difficulties measure and in the "borderline" or abnormal range on the parent-rated SDQ Total Difficulties measure. Randomization on a 1:1 ratio took place using a computer-generated sequence and stratifying by site. Data collectors and statisticians were blind to participant allocation status. Outcome measures focused on parent- and teacher-rated child behavior and emotions, and child-rated self-perception and hope. Intention-to-treat analysis on all 246 randomized participants (using imputed data where necessary) showed that at post-intervention (16 months after randomization), there were no statistically significant effects on the primary outcome-parent-rated SDQ Total Difficulties (adjusted standardized mean difference = - 0.12; 95% CI: -0.38 to 0.13; p = 0.33)-or any secondary outcomes. Results from complier average causal effect (CACE) analysis using the primary outcome indicated the intervention was not effective for children who received the recommended duration of mentoring. Exploratory analyses found no sub-group effects on the primary outcome. The article concludes that the mentoring program had no effect on children's behavior or emotional well-being, and that program content needs revising to satisfactorily address key risk and protective factors.

Psychological effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on children and families in the UK / Efectos psicológicos del confinamiento por COVID-19 en niños y familias en el Reino Unido

The implementation of measures (e.g. school closure and social distancing) to contain the spread of COVID-19 by government in numerous countries has affected millions of children and their families worldwide. However, the consequences of such measures on children's wellbeing are not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychological impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on primary school children and their families living in the UK. A total of 927 caregivers with children aged between 5 and 11 years completed an online survey which included a set of questionnaires to measure their own behaviour and emotional state as well as that of their children before and during the lockdown. Caregivers reported changes in their children's emotional state and behaviours during the lockdown. The most frequently reported child symptom was boredom (73.8%), followed by loneliness (64.5%) and frustration (61.4%). Irritability, restlessness, anger, anxiety, sadness, worry and being likely to argue with the rest of the family was reported by more than 30% of the caregivers. During the lockdown, children spent significantly more time using screens, and less time doing physical activity and sleeping. Moreover, family coexistence during the lockdown was described as moderately difficult. More than half of the caregivers reported being moderately or seriously distressed during the lockdown and caregiver level of psychological distress was significantly related to child symptoms. The findings emphasised the importance of developing prevention programmes to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children's and their family's psychological wellbeing

La implementación de medidas para contener la propagación del COVID-19 por parte del gobierno en numerosos países (por ejemplo, el cierre de colegios y el distanciamiento social) ha afectado a millones de niños y a sus familias en todo el mundo. Sin embargo, se desconocen las consecuencias de esas medidas en el bienestar de los niños. El objetivo del presente estudio fue examinar el impacto psicológico del confinamiento por COVID-19 en niños de educación primaria y en sus familias, residentes en Reino Unido. Un total de 927 padres y madres de niños de 5 a 11 años completaron una batería online compuesta por un conjunto de cuestionarios para evaluar su propio comportamiento y su estado emocional, así como el de sus hijos, antes y durante el confinamiento. Los padres informaron de cambios en el estado emocional y en el comportamiento de sus hijos. El síntoma infantil más frecuente fue el aburrimiento (73.8%), seguido del sentimiento de soledad (64.5%) y la frustración (61.4%). Más del 30% de los padres informaron de irritabilidad, inquietud, enfado, ansiedad, tristeza, preocupación y de una mayor probabilidad de discutir con el resto de la familia. Durante el confinamiento, los niños pasaban significativamente más tiempo usando pantallas y menos tiempo realizando actividad física y durmiendo. Además, la convivencia familiar se describió como moderadamente díficil. Más de la mitad de los padres informaron de niveles moderados o graves de distrés durante el confinamiento, que se relacionó significativamente con los síntomas del niño. Los hallazgos enfatizan la importancia de desarrollar programas de prevención para mitigar el impacto de la pandemia de COVID-19 en el bienestar psicológico de los niños y sus familias

Children's emotion understanding in relation to attachment to mother and father.

Although attachment plays a key role in children's socio-emotional development, little attention has been paid to the role of children's attachment to their father. This study examined whether insecure attachment to each parent was associated with reduced emotion understanding in children and whether children showed consistent attachments to their mother and father. We measured children's attachment to each parent using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task and child emotion understanding using the Test of Emotion Comprehension (children's Mage  = 5.64 years, SD = 0.84). The results indicated that insecure father-child attachment and insecure mother-child attachment were each associated with lower emotion understanding in children after controlling for parent's depressive symptoms and children's age. There was significant concordance of child attachment to mother and father. The findings provide support for convergence of children's attachment across parents and suggest that father-child attachment is an important factor to consider when examining children's emotion understanding. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject Secure mother-child attachment is positively associated with children's emotional competence. Children form similar representations of attachment to their mother and father. What the present study adds Both mother-child and father-child attachment are associated with children's emotion understanding. The study's findings highlight the importance of father-child attachment in their children's emotion understanding. The study provides support for concordance of children's attachment across parents.

The effectiveness of Chance UK's mentoring programme in improving behavioural and emotional outcomes in primary school children with behavioural difficulties: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: There is a need to build the evidence base of early interventions to promote children's health and development in the UK. Chance UK is a voluntary sector organisation based in London that delivers a 12-month mentoring programme for primary school children identified by teachers and parents as having behavioural and emotional difficulties. The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of the programme in terms of children's behaviour and emotional well-being; this is the primary outcome of the trial. METHODS/DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial will be conducted in which participants are randomly allocated on a dynamic basis to one of two possible arms: the intervention arm (n = 123) will be offered the mentoring programme, and the control arm (n = 123) will be offered services as usual. Outcome data will be collected at three points: pre-intervention (baseline), mid-way through the mentoring year (c.9 months after randomisation) and post- mentoring programme (c.16 months after randomisation). DISCUSSION: This study will further enhance the evidence for early intervention mentoring programmes for child behaviour and emotional well-being in the UK. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN47154925 . Retrospectively registered 9 September 2014.

The effectiveness of the Inspiring Futures parenting programme in improving behavioural and emotional outcomes in primary school children with behavioural or emotional difficulties: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: There is a need to build the evidence base of early interventions promoting children's health and development in the UK. Malachi Specialist Family Support Services ('Malachi') is a voluntary sector organisation based in the UK that delivers a therapeutic parenting group programme called Inspiring Futures to parents of children identified as having behavioural and emotional difficulties. The programme comprises two parts, delivered sequentially: (1) a group-based programme for all parents for 10-12 weeks, and (2) one-to-one sessions with selected parents from the group-based element for up to 12 weeks. METHODS/DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate Malachi's Inspiring Futures parenting programme. Participants will be allocated to one of two possible arms, with follow-up measures at 16 weeks (post-parent group programme) and at 32 weeks (post-one-to-one sessions with selected parents). The sample size is 248 participants with a randomisation allocation ratio of 1:1. The intervention arm will be offered the Inspiring Futures programme. The control group will receive services as usual. The aim is to determine the effectiveness of the Inspiring Futures programme on the primary outcome of behavioural and emotional difficulties of primary school children identified as having behavioural or emotional difficulties. DISCUSSION: This study will further enhance the evidence for early intervention parenting programmes for child behavioural and emotional problems in the UK. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN32083735 . Retrospectively registered 28 October 2014.

Executive Function Variation in Children With Conduct Problems: Influences of Coexisting Reading Difficulties.

It is unknown whether children with conduct problems (CP) and poor reading (PR) skills exhibit more profound executive function impairments than children with CP only and whether such impairments are explained by coexisting PR. Executive functions were compared in four groups of 7- to 8-year-old children: 26 CP only, 35 PR only, 27 CP-PR, and 31 comparison (COM) children with neither CP nor PR. The Conners' Teacher Rating Scale-28 and a sentence completion reading test were used to assess CP and PR skills. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition Backward Digit Span, the Conners' Continuous Performance Test, and the Tower of London were used to assess three aspects of executive function: verbal working memory, response inhibition, and planning, respectively. The CP-PR group had lower verbal working memory than the CP-only and COM groups, but the difference was not significant after intellectual ability, inattention, and hyperactivity were controlled. The CP-PR group made more errors in the planning task (rule violations) than the COM and CP-only groups, but the difference was not significant after intellectual ability was controlled. No significant group differences were found in response inhibition. A specific PR group effect was found for verbal working memory. Children with CP-PR have more prominent executive function impairments that cannot be attributed to coexisting PR.

Parental depressive symptoms, children's emotional and behavioural problems, and parents' expressed emotion-Critical and positive comments.

This longitudinal study examined whether mothers' and fathers' depressive symptoms predict, independently and interactively, children's emotional and behavioural problems. It also examined bi-directional associations between parents' expressed emotion constituents (parents' child-directed positive and critical comments) and children's emotional and behavioural problems. At time 1, the sample consisted of 160 families in which 50 mothers and 40 fathers had depression according to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Children's mean age at Time 1 was 3.9 years (SD = 0.8). Families (n = 106) were followed up approximately 16 months later (Time 2). Expressed emotion constituents were assessed using the Preschool Five Minute Speech Sample. In total, 144 mothers and 158 fathers at Time 1 and 93 mothers and 105 fathers at Time 2 provided speech samples. Fathers' depressive symptoms were concurrently associated with more child emotional problems when mothers had higher levels of depressive symptoms. When controlling for important confounders (children's gender, baseline problems, mothers' depressive symptoms and parents' education and age), fathers' depressive symptoms independently predicted higher levels of emotional and behavioural problems in their children over time. There was limited evidence for a bi-directional relationship between fathers' positive comments and change in children's behavioural problems over time. Unexpectedly, there were no bi-directional associations between parents' critical comments and children's outcomes. We conclude that the study provides evidence to support a whole family approach to prevention and intervention strategies for children's mental health and parental depression.

Does fathers' and mothers' rumination predict emotional symptoms in their children?

OBJECTIVES: Although rumination can have a negative influence on the family environment and the quality of parent-child interactions, there is little research on the role of parental rumination in predicting adverse child outcomes over time. This longitudinal study examined whether mothers' and fathers' brooding rumination would each uniquely predict emotional symptoms in preschool children. METHODS: The initial sample consisted of 160 families (including 50 mothers with past depression, 33 fathers with past depression, and 7 fathers with current depression according to the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-IV). Families were seen at two times separated by 16 months. Children's mean age at the entry into the study was 3.9 years (SD = 0.8). Each parent independently completed the Ruminative Response Scale, the Child Behavior Checklist, the Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. RESULTS: Fathers' brooding rumination significantly predicted children's emotional symptoms over 16 months when controlling for child emotional symptoms, couple adjustment, parents' depressive symptoms, mothers' brooding and reflective rumination, and fathers' reflective rumination at baseline. Unexpectedly, mothers' brooding rumination did not significantly predict child emotional symptoms over time. Correlational analyses showed significant associations between parents' rumination and lower levels of couple adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that fathers' brooding rumination may play a unique role in their children's emotional outcomes. If these findings are replicated, studies should examine the processes by which these links occur and their implications for clinical interventions. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Rumination is prevalent among individuals with depression, but to date no studies have examined the possible role of mothers' and fathers' brooding rumination in predicting children's emotional symptoms. Fathers' brooding rumination was positively associated with children's emotional symptoms over time when controlling for mothers' rumination and other important characteristics. Parental rumination might be a promising target for both prevention and intervention strategies for parents with depression and their children. The findings of this study could inform parenting interventions (e.g., educate parents about the possible effects of rumination on family interactions and children's outcomes, help parents notice when they ruminate, teach them to replace rumination with more adaptive strategies). The findings should be interpreted with caution. The study relied on self-reports, and therefore, the data are subject to shared method variance which may have artificially inflated associations between parent and child outcomes. The sample consisted of well-educated parents, and therefore, the findings should be generalized to other populations with caution.