A new study from UAB clearly shows how the pandemic has affected the mental health of parents of school-age children.
Dr. Mieke Beth Tormer
Photography: Lexi KuhnFamily dynamics are important for mental health, and this role has become even more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic as families have been spending more time together than usual. A recent study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that parents whose children had work interruptions, lost their jobs, or were attending school remotely had increased symptoms of depression.
The study, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that single parents with work interruptions or no paid work, single parents with children in remote locations, fathers without paid work, and white parents with children It was also shown that mental health among parents of children was significantly reduced. At a remote school.
“We investigated the impact of the pandemic on working parents by examining the health effects of parents facing job loss, work interruptions, and virtual schooling for their children,” said UAB College of the Arts Associate Professor said Dr. Mieke Beth Tormer. Department of Science, Social Studies and lead author of the study. “A study of parents' mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic found that experiencing work interruptions and sending children to school remotely had an impact on parents' mental health. “We expect that work interruptions and distance learning have particularly affected single parents, as the strain on family safety nets has increased for single parents during the pandemic.”
This longitudinal study uses data from across the U.S. to show that the impact of unpaid work and school dynamics on parents during the pandemic is complex, and how it changes for parents is a partnership. We showed that it is based on situation, gender, and race.
Research has shown that the effects on mental health were more pronounced among certain demographic groups. The study found that not having paid employment and having children attending school remotely had an even more severe impact on her three groups of individuals: single parents, men, and individuals who identified as white. It shows that there is.
Men and women experienced similar symptoms of depression caused by interruptions in paid work during the pandemic, but men's mental health was more affected by long-term unemployment than women.
“We know that the pandemic has resulted in poorer mental health for parents,” Tomer said. “Through this study, we provide evidence of the extent to which parents' paid work and children's attendance at school contributed to poor mental health. This may be related to increased social pressure to be the breadwinner.”
The UAB study looked at how people with children attending remote schools were affected. White parents' mental health worsened more than black parents.
“This trend may be because black families are more likely to have extensive kinship networks that provide social support systems such as child care that can ease the burden of distance learning on parents,” Tomer said. said.
Future research should explore the role of support systems for parents, which may help provide a deeper understanding of these mental health patterns.
“While the coronavirus pandemic was unique, we expect that more pandemic-like social events, such as climate change and economic recession, will disrupt parents' work lives and children's schooling. “It will be done,” Tomer said. “The findings will help protect the mental health of all generations by informing policies that advocate for providing more support to families, especially vulnerable families such as single-parent households.”
The study was co-led by Lynn Lecek, a professor of sociology at The Ohio State University, and Mia Brantley, a UAB graduate and assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at North Carolina State University.
