Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study
Background: In a previous study, we demonstrated that the accumulation of parenting stress during prolonged school closures and restrictions on daily activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan indicates the need for mental health intervention for parents at higher risk of parenting stress. How...
Saved in:
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Published: |
Frontiers Media
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/34205/ |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
id |
my.um.eprints.34205 |
---|---|
record_format |
eprints |
spelling |
my.um.eprints.342052022-06-13T07:42:39Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/34205/ Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study Kurata, Sawa Hiraoka, Daiki Ahmad Adlan, Aida Syarinaz Jayanath, Subhashini Hamzah, Norhamizan Ahmad-Fauzi, Aishah Fujisawa, Takashi X. Nishitani, Shota Tomoda, Akemi BF Psychology Background: In a previous study, we demonstrated that the accumulation of parenting stress during prolonged school closures and restrictions on daily activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan indicates the need for mental health intervention for parents at higher risk of parenting stress. However, few studies have focused on parenting stress in other Asian countries, although they have experienced higher numbers of infections. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether parenting stress among caregivers increased across Asia due to school closures and restrictions on activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine whether there were any country-specific, cross-country, or cross-regional risk factors for increased parenting stress.Methods: We conducted an online survey immediately after the number of new cases in India significantly increased (September-November 2020). We measured parenting stress, anxiety, and fear associated with the COVID-19 crisis, as evaluated by the Parenting Stress Index, Short-Form (PSI-SF), and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), across three Asian countries-India (n = 142), Malaysia (n = 69), and Japan (n = 182)-in addition to the United States (n = 203). We also investigated whether respondents had adverse childhood experiences (ACE) as a risk factor for parenting stress.Results: For all countries, we found significant increases in participants' current parenting stress levels, compared to what they recalled regarding their lives before COVID-19-related restrictions and school closures were enacted. Textual analysis qualitatively identified common terms related to parenting stress across all countries. We also found a statistical model that indicated ACE in parents was a critical risk factor for higher parenting stress via increasing anxiety and fear related to the pandemic.Conclusion: These results indicate the need to improve the mental health of caregivers who are at risk for higher levels of parenting stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian countries as well as Western countries. These results indicate that there is a need to improve the mental health of caregivers who are at risk for higher levels of parenting stress during the COVID-19 pandemic globally. Frontiers Media 2021-12-21 Article PeerReviewed Kurata, Sawa and Hiraoka, Daiki and Ahmad Adlan, Aida Syarinaz and Jayanath, Subhashini and Hamzah, Norhamizan and Ahmad-Fauzi, Aishah and Fujisawa, Takashi X. and Nishitani, Shota and Tomoda, Akemi (2021) Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. ISSN 1664-1078, DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.782298 <https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.782298>. 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.782298 |
institution |
Universiti Malaya |
building |
UM Library |
collection |
Institutional Repository |
continent |
Asia |
country |
Malaysia |
content_provider |
Universiti Malaya |
content_source |
UM Research Repository |
url_provider |
http://eprints.um.edu.my/ |
topic |
BF Psychology |
spellingShingle |
BF Psychology Kurata, Sawa Hiraoka, Daiki Ahmad Adlan, Aida Syarinaz Jayanath, Subhashini Hamzah, Norhamizan Ahmad-Fauzi, Aishah Fujisawa, Takashi X. Nishitani, Shota Tomoda, Akemi Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study |
description |
Background: In a previous study, we demonstrated that the accumulation of parenting stress during prolonged school closures and restrictions on daily activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan indicates the need for mental health intervention for parents at higher risk of parenting stress. However, few studies have focused on parenting stress in other Asian countries, although they have experienced higher numbers of infections. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether parenting stress among caregivers increased across Asia due to school closures and restrictions on activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine whether there were any country-specific, cross-country, or cross-regional risk factors for increased parenting stress.Methods: We conducted an online survey immediately after the number of new cases in India significantly increased (September-November 2020). We measured parenting stress, anxiety, and fear associated with the COVID-19 crisis, as evaluated by the Parenting Stress Index, Short-Form (PSI-SF), and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), across three Asian countries-India (n = 142), Malaysia (n = 69), and Japan (n = 182)-in addition to the United States (n = 203). We also investigated whether respondents had adverse childhood experiences (ACE) as a risk factor for parenting stress.Results: For all countries, we found significant increases in participants' current parenting stress levels, compared to what they recalled regarding their lives before COVID-19-related restrictions and school closures were enacted. Textual analysis qualitatively identified common terms related to parenting stress across all countries. We also found a statistical model that indicated ACE in parents was a critical risk factor for higher parenting stress via increasing anxiety and fear related to the pandemic.Conclusion: These results indicate the need to improve the mental health of caregivers who are at risk for higher levels of parenting stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian countries as well as Western countries. These results indicate that there is a need to improve the mental health of caregivers who are at risk for higher levels of parenting stress during the COVID-19 pandemic globally. |
format |
Article |
author |
Kurata, Sawa Hiraoka, Daiki Ahmad Adlan, Aida Syarinaz Jayanath, Subhashini Hamzah, Norhamizan Ahmad-Fauzi, Aishah Fujisawa, Takashi X. Nishitani, Shota Tomoda, Akemi |
author_facet |
Kurata, Sawa Hiraoka, Daiki Ahmad Adlan, Aida Syarinaz Jayanath, Subhashini Hamzah, Norhamizan Ahmad-Fauzi, Aishah Fujisawa, Takashi X. Nishitani, Shota Tomoda, Akemi |
author_sort |
Kurata, Sawa |
title |
Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study |
title_short |
Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study |
title_full |
Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study |
title_fullStr |
Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting stress across Asian countries: A cross-national study |
title_sort |
influence of the covid-19 pandemic on parenting stress across asian countries: a cross-national study |
publisher |
Frontiers Media |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://eprints.um.edu.my/34205/ |
_version_ |
1735570298569228288 |
score |
13.160551 |