The COVID-19 pandemic has had substantial health, social, and economic effects on families. Consequent lockdowns and school closures heightened the burden on parents of school-age children. Many parents, while working from home, had to care for their children with restricted access to caregiver resources and to support their children’s education through homeschooling or remote learning provided by their schools. These duties created challenges and pressures on parents. Using online survey data collected from 197 parents of school-age (Prek-12) children during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., this preliminary study examined the relations among COVID-19-related stressors, including fear of COVID-19 and problems associated with school closures, parenting stress, and parental psychological well-being. Fear of COVID-19 and various issues associated with school closures were related to parenting stress and parental well-being. Parents with less instrumental and emotional support reported higher levels of parenting stress and lower levels of psychological well-being. The results of hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that parenting stress was the strongest predictor of parental psychological distress. Social support was associated with parental well-being but did not mediate the relation between parenting stress and parental well-being. The findings suggest that parenting stress during the COVID-19 lockdowns might take a toll on the mental health of parents of school-age children. Parents of school-age children need multiple layers of support, including targeted support addressing stressors related to school closures and parenting under quarantine.

COVID-19 大流行对家庭的健康、社会和经济产生了重大影响。随后的封锁和学校关闭加重了学龄儿童家长的负担。许多家长在家工作时，不得不照顾孩子，但获得的看护资源有限，并通过学校提供的在家上学或远程学习来支持孩子的教育。这些职责给父母带来了挑战和压力。这项初步研究利用在美国 COVID-19 大流行的前三个月从 197 名学龄 (Prek-12) 儿童家长收集的在线调查数据，探讨了与 COVID-19 相关的压力源之间的关系，包括对恐惧的恐惧。 COVID-19 以及与学校停课、育儿压力和家长心理健康相关的问题。对 COVID-19 的恐惧以及与学校停课相关的各种问题与育儿压力和父母的福祉有关。工具性和情感支持较少的父母报告称，养育压力较高，心理健康水平较低。层次多元回归的结果显示，养育压力是父母心理困扰的最强预测因素。社会支持与父母的幸福感相关，但并不调节养育压力和父母幸福感之间的关系。研究结果表明，COVID-19 封锁期间的养育压力可能会损害学龄儿童家长的心理健康。学龄儿童的家长需要多层次的支持，包括有针对性的支持，解决与学校停课和隔离期间育儿相关的压力源。