Abstract
Stress can compromise parental well-being and may contribute to harsh and critical parenting styles, which are in turn associated with children's conduct problems. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related restrictions are likely to have exacerbated parental stress as, for many, UK-based family life was altered considerably. Mindfulness has been demonstrated to improve stress management and emotion regulation when delivered to parents in person, however, more accessible online interventions are under-researched. To provide preliminary data on family well-being and parent-child relationships as well as the acceptability and usability of the Headspace app - a self-delivered mindfulness-based intervention - for parents in low-risk families during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We provided 12 parents with access to Headspace, and collected qualitative data (semi-structured interviews and 5 minute speech samples) immediately following the initial COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. The resulting transcripts were thematically analysed. Most parents reported Headspace to be acceptable and useful - improvements in parents' own sleep were particularly noted - and there was high adherence to the intervention. However, difficulties related to family well-being and parent-child relationships following the lockdown were also reported. As a result of the confounding impact of COVID-19 restrictions, and varied access to app content, we were unable to determine any outcomes to be a result of practising mindfulness specifically. However, COVID-19 has had a profound impact on many UK-based families, including those previously at low risk, and our results demonstrate that Headspace may have beneficial effects for parents. There is a need to more rigorously test this tool with a broader range of families.
Highlights
Stress can compromise parental well-being and may contribute to harsh and critical parenting styles, which are in turn associated with children’s conduct problems
As a result of the confounding impact of COVID-19 restrictions, and varied access to app content, we were unable to determine any outcomes to be a result of practising mindfulness
COVID-19 has had a profound impact on many UKbased families, including those previously at low risk, and our results demonstrate that Headspace may have beneficial effects for parents
Summary
Stress can compromise parental well-being and may contribute to harsh and critical parenting styles, which are in turn associated with children’s conduct problems. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated lockdown restrictions are projected to have serious long-term implications for the mental health and well-being of a range of families and young children, including those who may not have been classified as vulnerable prior to the pandemic (‘low risk’).[1] We report results from a small study with parents of young children, originally designed as a case series to understand the experiences, feasibility and acceptability of the Headspace app (hereon, ‘Headspace’) – a self-delivered, mindfulness-based intervention (MBI). Parental stress can exacerbate the use of these negative parenting strategies,[4] making it a key target for intervention, arguably in particular as parental stress has been heightened by COVID-19.5
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