Perceived Parental Stress during Covid-19 Pandemic and Lockdown in a selected school of Mysuru

Abstract

Introduction: The outbreak of COVID-19 is a global public health emergency with multifaceted consequences for people’s lives and their mental health. Parenting in the time of COVID-19 can be demanding as parents find themselves in a challenging situation with young, energetic children locked down within the house. People living with young children reported higher mental distress compared to the general public and norms. On top of worries about physical health and financial situation, parents faced several further strains related to combining family and work life due to missing day care options and social distancing measures. With increasing feelings of anxiety and depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents reported higher values of perceived stress. Methods: The aim of the study was to assess the perceived parental stress during Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. Research design adopted for the study was descriptive survey design. Non probability convenience sampling technique was adopted to select 60 parents of school children for the study in a selected school of Mysuru city. Personal Variable Proforma was used to assess the selected personal variables of parents and parental stress scale to assess the perceived parental stress during Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. Results: The results of the study revealed the majority 50(83.4%) parents had moderate perceived stress and only 9(15%) parents had severe perceived stress during covid 19 pandemic and lockdown, mean stress score among parents was 40.7 with SD of ±5.1 and the results also depicted that there was that no statistical association betweenperceived parental stress during Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown and their selected personal variables except for type of family and place of residence. Hence null hypothesis was partially accepted. Discussion: 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. Hence this study was planned to assess the perceived parental stress during Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown in a selected school of Mysuru.