Background

Parent–child interactions are crucial for child development. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected mental health and increased parenting challenges impacting parent–child functioning.

Objective

This study examined parent factors related to more and less enriching child activities during the pandemic through Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems framework.

Methods

A convenience sample of parents (N = 708), primarily mothers (n = 610; 87.4%) aged 35.59 years old (SD = 5.59; range = 21–72), with children ages 2–8 years completed an online questionnaire between April 14-June 1, 2020. Participants mostly resided in Canada, had an income of > $100,000, and identified as White (82.4%). Parent–child activities were measured as total weekly time and combined time across activities within two categories: hands-on play and screen time. Bivariate correlations informed blockwise linear regression models.

Results

For families with childcare needs, parental anxiety was associated with higher total hands-on play, combined hands-on play, and combined screen time. Families without childcare needs indicated parenting stress was associated with lower total hands-on play and combined hands-on play, and higher supervised screen time. Family structure and indices of socioeconomic status were also predictive of activities across childcare needs and child ages.

Conclusions

To promote high-quality parent–child interactions and positive developmental outcomes during the pandemic, childcare needs and parent wellbeing should be supported, while evidence-based guidelines for child screen time should be further researched in this context.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行期间与动手游戏和屏幕时间相关的家庭因素

 背景

亲子互动对于孩子的成长至关重要。 COVID-19 大流行对心理健康产生了负面影响，并增加了影响亲子功能的育儿挑战。

 客观的

这项研究通过布朗芬布伦纳的生态系统框架，研究了与大流行期间丰富儿童活动的增加和减少相关的父母因素。

 方法

父母（ N = 708）的方便样本，主要是母亲（ n = 610；87.4%），年龄为 35.59 岁（ SD = 5.59；范围 = 21-72），子女年龄为 2-8 岁，在 4 月份期间完成了一份在线调查问卷2020 年 14 月 14 日至 6 月 1 日。参与者大多居住在加拿大，收入为 > $100,000，并且被确定为白人 (82.4%)。亲子活动以每周总时间和两类活动的总时间来衡量：动手游戏时间和屏幕时间。双变量相关性告知块线性回归模型。

 结果

对于有育儿需求的家庭，父母的焦虑与较高的总动手游戏时间、组合动手游戏时间和组合屏幕时间有关。没有托儿需求的家庭表明，养育压力与总动手游戏和组合动手游戏较少以及受监督的屏幕时间较长有关。家庭结构和社会经济地位指数也可以预测儿童保育需求和儿童年龄的活动。

 结论

为了在大流行期间促进高质量的亲子互动和积极的发展成果，应支持儿童保育需求和父母的福祉，同时应在此背景下进一步研究基于证据的儿童屏幕时间指南。