Objective

Parenting during pandemic restrictions places extreme demands on everyday family life, leading to increased stress levels for parents and distressed parent-child interactions. This RCT aimed to investigate whether cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion are helpful emotion regulation (ER) strategies to reduce individual and parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method

An online intervention for parents was developed focusing on the application of ER strategies to pandemic requirements of families. A sample of 265 parents were randomly assigned to either cognitive reappraisal (CR; n = 88), self-compassion (SC; n = 90) or wait-list control (WLC; n = 87) group. Interventions included two video sessions (day 1 and day 3) and three email reminders to transfer the application of ER strategies to daily family life (days 2, 4, 5). Parents' perceived individual stress and parental stress were assessed at baseline (T0), at T1 prior to the booster session on day 3, and at T2 (7 days after baseline).

Results

Significant decreases from T0 to T2 emerged for both primary stress outcomes in both intervention groups. Individual stress significantly decreased in CR compared to WLC at T2, but not compared to SC. No time × group interactions for parental stress were found. However, mediation analyses suggested that parental stress was indirectly decreased via reductions in individual stress for CR compared to WLC at both time points.

Conclusions

COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic to affect family life. Cognitive reappraisal as a brief online intervention can ease acute stress and strengthen the mental health of parents in acute crises.

中文翻译：

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认知重评和自我慈悲作为 COVID-19 期间父母的情绪调节策略：一项在线随机对照试验

客观的

疫情限制期间的养育子女对日常生活的家庭生活提出了极高的要求，导致父母的压力增加，亲子互动也变得痛苦。该随机对照试验旨在调查认知重评和自我慈悲是否有助于情绪调节 (ER) 策略，以减少 COVID-19 大流行期间个人和父母的压力。

方法

为家长制定了在线干预措施，重点是将急诊室策略应用于家庭的大流行需求。265 名家长样本被随机分配到认知重评组（CR；n  = 88）、自我慈悲组（SC；n  = 90）或候补对照组（WLC；n  = 87）。干预措施包括两次视频会议（第 1 天和第 3 天）和三个电子邮件提醒，以将 ER 策略的应用转移到日常生活中（第 2、4、5 天）。在基线 (T0)、第 3 天加强疗程前的 T1 和 T2（基线后 7 天）评估父母感知的个人压力和父母压力。

结果

两个干预组的两种主要压力结果从 T0 到 T2 均出现显着下降。与 T2 时的 WLC 相比，CR 中的个体压力显着降低，但与 SC 相比则没有。没有发现父母压力的时间×群体互动。然而，中介分析表明，与 WLC 相比，CR 在两个时间点通过个体压力的减少间接减少了父母的压力。

结论

COVID-19 不会是最后一次影响家庭生活的流行病。认知重新评估作为一种简短的在线干预措施可以缓解急性压力并增强处于严重危机中的父母的心理健康。