Abstract
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.
Highlights
On March 11, 2020, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which began in Wuhan, China in December 2019 was classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) (World Health Organization, 2021) as a pandemic, a situation that has persisted for more than a year
Pairwise t-tests of PSI-SF total scores between each “country,” irrespective of the “time,” revealed India was the highest compared to the other countries
The results showed that, as we expected, parenting stress increased under the COVID-19 pandemic in all the Asian countries and the United States compared to the pre-pandemic period
Summary
On March 11, 2020, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which began in Wuhan, China in December 2019 was classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) (World Health Organization, 2021) as a pandemic, a situation that has persisted for more than a year. We were the first to survey the impact of prolonged school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of caregivers in Japan. 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. 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
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