Through the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have been challenged to balance work, home, childcare and distance learning support for school-age children without the help of their regular support systems such as schools, childcare and often other family members as well.
A new longitudinal study in Germany examined daily parental behavior from the restrictions and closures caused by the pandemic from late March to late April 2020.
Research has shown that independence-supportive parenting (offering meaningful choices where possible) contributes to positive well-being for children and parents.
The results were published in a Child Development article written by researchers at DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education and the Center for Research on the Individual and Appropriate Education of Children at Risk (IDeA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
“We examined whether parental behavior that supports independence can help and change and improve children’s wellbeing. We also examined whether such parenting behavior helps to create a positive emotional state that benefits parents. as well as children, “said Andreas B. Neubauer, a postgraduate research scientist at DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education.
“The findings show that parental behavior that supports independence is positively linked to both children’s wellbeing and higher parental need fulfillment. “According to the authors, such parenting behavior requires parental energy and vigor but it also contributes.
Participants for the online study were recruited through social media, a press release, and links to school and parent-teacher associations. The inspection assessed parents of school children using online questionnaires over three weeks through the following methods:
- 970 parents completed an online questionnaire and were able to choose to enroll in the second part of the survey (562 parents participated).
- During the second part of the survey, for three consecutive weeks, parents (mostly female and well-educated) received 21 online questionnaires each day with questions such as “As far as possible, I will let my child co -decide today what he or she wanted to do “or” As far as possible, my child was able to do the things he or she would like to do today. “They also received a final questionnaire. after three weeks.
- Parents were asked about their parenting behavior, the extent to which their psychological needs had been met, and the well-being of their child.
In addition, parents were asked about their own well-being, their views on the family climate, and their child’s behavior once before the 21-day period and again after the 21-day period.
Our findings from the daily questionnaires suggest that supportive parenting is beneficial to the wellbeing of children and parents. Parental assistance in their daily parental behavior choices may be an effective way to improve family climate and children’s well-being in emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. “
Florian Schmiedek, Professor, and Head of the Cognitive Development Unit, DIPF, Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education
The authors identify a number of limitations in this study: only one aspect of parents with autonomous support was assessed (“choice within boundaries”), the questionnaire was previously used only in adolescents , the reports were obtained only from the perspective of predominantly female parents. , and a low daily compliance rate (but this was considered appropriate due to the hard time).
Source:
Society for Research in Child Development