Mothers' psychological distress and their perceived parent-child closeness during COVID-19
List of Authors
  • Lee Hong Yiap

Keyword
  • Psychological distress, parent-child relationship, perceived closeness, mental health, COVID-19

Abstract
  • The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the adverse impacts on maternal mental health. This study investigated the relationship between the degree of psychological distress experienced by mothers and their reported intimacy with their children during the COVID-19 epidemic. For the research, a total of 34 mothers from the 30-39 age group and 23 mothers from the 40-49 age group were recruited at random. Mothers completed questions regarding mental health and the relationship between mother and child. The data has been analysed using Pearson correlation and independent sample t-test. The mothers who participated reported experiencing moderate psychological distress (M=1.71, SD=.61). Mothers were found to be more inclined towards a closer relationship (M= 4.24, SD=.76) in relation to the high perceived relationship (M= 3.38, SD=.47) reported. In terms of reported closeness with their children and psychological distress level, there was no significant difference between mothers aged 30-39 and 40-49. This study focused on the measurement and analysis of mothers' psychological distress and how it impacts their relationship with their children in a beneficial way. Despite the fact that mothers appeared to be more engaged with their children, maternal mental health should not be overlooked. Social support, collaborative parenting, and healthy coping mechanisms are promoted to promote overall well-being. Recommendations for further research are also included.

Reference
  • 1. Abramson, A. (2020, April 8). How COVID-19 may increase domestic violence and child abuse. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/domestic-violence-child-abuse 2. Aslan, Ö, M., & Altinisik, Y. (2022). The role of mother–child relationship between young children’s anxiety and social play. Early Child Development and Care, 192(15), 2442-2454. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2021.2017909 3. Babore, A., Trumello, C., Lombardi, L., Candelori, C., Chirumbolo, A., Cattelino, E., Baiocco, R., Bramanti, S. M., Viceconti, S. L., Pignataro, S., & Morelli, M. (2023). Mothers’ and Children’s Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: The Mediating Role of Parenting Stress. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 54, 134-146. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10578-021-01230-6 4. Barbola, K. C. (2014). Emotional Stability and Parent-Child Relationship. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research, 3(4), 1. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kailash-Barmola/publication/272494752_Emotional_Stability_and_Parent-Child_Relationship/links/5d0320d892851c874c6505fe/Emotional-Stability-and-Parent-Child-Relationship.pdf 5. Bate, J., Pham, P. T., & Borelli, J. L. (2021). Be My Safe Haven: Parent-Child Relationships and Emotional Health During COVID-19. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 46(6), 624-634. https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fjpepsy%2Fjsab046 6. Bu, X., You, L.; Li, Y.; Liu, K.; Zheng, J.; Yan, T.; Chen, S.; & Zhang, L. (2017). Psychometric Properties of the Kessler 10 Scale in Chinese Parents of Children With Cancer. Cancer Nursing, 40(4), 297-304. DOI: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000392 7. Cameron, E. E., Joyce, K. M., Delaquis, C. P., Reynolds, K., Protudjer, J. L. P., & Roos, L. E. (2020). Maternal psychological distress & mental health service use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Affective Disorders, 276, 765-774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.081 8. Cavalcante, M. C. V., Lamy, Z. C., França, A. K. T. C., Pereira, M. U. L., Ferraro, A. A., Barbieri, M. A., & Lamy-Filho, F. (2020). Psychological distress and mother-child relationship: influence of life context on a population sample (BRISA) through the use of directed acyclic graphs (DAG). Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 54(1). https://doi.org/10.1590%2F1414-431X202010080 9. Ceulemans, M., Foulon, V., Ngo, E., Panchaud, A., Winterfield, U., Pomar, L., Lambelet, V., Cleary, B., O'Shaughnessy, F., Passier, A., Richardson, J. L., Hompes, L., & Nordeng, H. (2021). Mental health status of pregnant and breastfeeding women during the COVID-19 pandemic—A multinational cross- sectional study. Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NFOG), 100(7), 1219-1229. https://doi.org/10.1111/aogs.14092 10. Cimino, S., Di Vito, P. & Cerniglia, L. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on psychopathological symptoms in mothers and their school-age children before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic peak. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03360-z 11. De Souza, C. D., Coltro, B. P., Paraventi, L., Lunkes, S., Garcia, M. E., & Vieira, M. L. (2022). Psychological impacts of COVID-19 on parenting and child behavior in Brazilian families: mediation effects of parental positive mental health. Psychological Sciences, 16(2), e-2363. http://dx.doi.org/10.22235/cp.v16i2.2363 12. Driscoll, K., & Pianta, R. C. (2011). Mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of conflict and closeness in parent-child relationships during early childhood. Journal of Early Child Infant Psychology, 7, 1–24. https://education.virginia.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/resourceLibrary/Mothers_and_Fathers_Perceptions_%28Driscoll_Pianta%29.pdf 13. Ersay, E. (2014). Parental Socialization of Emotion: How Mothers Respond to their Children’s Emotions in Turkey. The International Journal of Emotional Education, 6(1), 33-46. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1085734.pdf 14. Falco, S. D., Emer, A., Martini, L., Rigo, P., Pruner, S., et al., (2014). Predictors of mother–child interaction quality and child attachment security in at-risk families. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(898), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00898 15. Fasikhah, S. S. (2019). The Effect of Attachment with Parent on the Emotion Perception of 8-10 Year Old Children. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), 304, 493-497. https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/acpch-18/55914461 16. Flesia, L., Adeeb, M., Waseem, A., Helmy, M., & Monaro, M. (2023). Psychological Distress Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Protective Role of Hope. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 13(1), 67-80. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13010005 17. Guo, J., De Carli, P., Lodder, P., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & Riem, M. (2022). Maternal mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown in China, Italy, and the Netherlands: A cross-validation study. Psychological Medicine, 52(15), 3349-3359. doi:10.1017/S0033291720005504 18. Hope, S., Pearce, A., Chitterborough, C., Deighton, J., Maika, A., Micali, N., Mittinty, M., Law, C., & Lynch, J. (2018). Temporal effects of maternal psychological distress on child mental health problems at ages 3, 5, 7 and 11: analysis from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Psychological Medicine, 49, 664-674. https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0033291718001368 19. Irshad, S., & Begum, N. (2021). A new decade for social change: COVID-19 and its psychological impact on working parents. Technical Social Sciences Journal, 24. https://doi.org/10.47577/tssj.v24i1 20. Jadva, V., Lysons, J., Imrie, S., & Golombok, S. (2022). An exploration of parental age in relation to parents’ psychological health, child adjustment and experiences of being an older parent in families formed through egg donation. Reproductive BioMedicine Online, 45(2), 401-409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2022.03.029 21. Kirwin, M. A., & Ettinger, A. K. (2022). Working mothers during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study on mental health status and associations with the receipt of employment benefits. BMC Public Health, 22(435). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12468-z 22. Lax, E. S., Novak, S. A., & Webster, G. D. (2023). Maternal Functioning and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Women’s Health, 32(2). https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2021.0588 23. Li, M., Chen, X., Gong, H., Ji, W., Wang, W., Liang, S., & Kong, A. (2021). The predictive effect of parental adult attachment on parent–adolescent attachment: the mediating role of harsh parenting. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 710167. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.710167 24. Liu, J. (2022). The Effect of Parent-Child Attachment Relationships on Anxiety Levels in Early Childhood. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 720, 780-789. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-89-3_92 25. Seo, J. H., & Kim, H. K. (2022). What Is the Burnout of Mothers with Infants and Toddlers during the COVID-19 Pandemic? In Relation to Parenting Stress, Depression, and Parenting Efficacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), 4291. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19074291 26. Malkawi, S. H., Almhdawi, K., Jaber, A. F., & Alqatarneh, N.S. (2020). COVID 19 Quarantine Related Mental Health Symptoms and their Correlates among Mothers: A Cross Sectional Study. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-03034-x 27. Manja, S. A., Mohamad, L., Ismail, H., & Yusof, N. I. (2020). Working Parents And Emotionally Parental Burnout During Malaysia Movement Control Order (Mco). European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine, 7(2), 4930-4953. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346965399_Working_Parents_And_Emotionally_Parental_Burnout_During_Malaysia_Movement_Control_Order_Mco 28. Mann, M., Harary, D., Louis, S., Wang, T., Bonuck, K., Isasi, C. R., Charron, M. J., & Fuloria, M. (2023). Association of parent-child interactions with parental psychological distress and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 11, 1150216. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2023.1150216 29. Marlow, M., Skeen, S., Hunt, X., Sundin, P., Weiss, R. E., Mofokeng, S., Makhetha, M., Cluver, L., Sherr, L., & Tomlinson, M. (2022). Depression, anxiety, and psychological distress among caregivers of young children in rural Lesotho: Associations with food insecurity, household death and parenting stress. SSM-Mental Health, 2, 100167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2022.100167 30. Martins, C. R., Neiva, A. C. L., Bahia, A. F., Oliveira, C. X., Cardoso, M. I. S., & Abreu, J. N. S. (2021). Parents’ mental health and children’s emotional regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychology: Theory and Practice, 23(1), 1–19. doi:10.5935/1980-6906/ePTPC1913534 31. Mo, X., Wang, Z., & Shao, J. (2021). Parent-child attachment and good behavior habits among Chinese children: Chain mediation effect of parental involvement and psychological Suzhi. PLOS One, 16(1), e0241586. https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0241586 32. Morgül, E., Kallitsoglou, A., & Essau, C. A. (2020). Psychological effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on children and families in the UK. Journal of Clinical Psychology with Children and Adolescents, 7(3), 42-48. https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.21134%2Frpcna.2020.mon.2049 33. O’Sullivan, K., Rock, N., Burke, L., Boyle, N., Joksimovic, N., Foley, H., & Clark, S. (2022). Gender Differences in the Psychosocial Functioning of Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 846238. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846238 34. Punamäki, R. L, Qouta, S. R., & Diab, S. Y. (2019). The role of maternal attachment in mental health and dyadic relationships in war trauma. Heliyon, 5(12), e02867. https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.heliyon.2019.e02867 35. Rajkumar, E., Rajan, A.M., Daniel, M., Lakshmi, R., John, R., George, A. J., Abraham, J., & Varghese, J. (2022). The psychological impact of quarantine due to COVID-19: A systematic review of risk, protective factors and interventions using socio-ecological model framework. Heliyon. 8(6), e09765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09765 36. Razina, N. V. (2014). Attitudes to motherhood in different cultures. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 7(2), 93-104. 10.11621/pir.2014.0209 37. Ribeiro, D. G., Perosa, G. B., & Padovani, F. H. P. (2014). Mental Health, Mother-Child Interaction and Development at the End of the First Year of Life. Pediatrics, 24(59), 331-339. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-43272459201407 38. Rousou, E., Kouta, C., Middleton, N., & Karanikola, M. (2019). Mental health among single mothers in Cyprus: a cross-sectional descriptive correlational study. BMC Women’s Health, 19(67). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-019-0763-9 39. Shin, E. K., LeWinn, K., Bush, N., Tylavsky, F. A., Davis, R. L., & Shaban-Nejad, A. (2019). Association of Maternal Social Relationships With Cognitive Development in Early Childhood. JAMA Network Open, 2(1), e186963. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.6963 40. Tapp, B., Gandy, M., Fogliati, V. J., Karin, E., Fogliati, R. J., & Newall, C., Mclellan, L., Titov, N., & Dear, B. F. (2020). Psychological distress, help‐seeking, and perceived barriers to psychological treatment among Australian parents. Australian Journal of Psychology, 70(2), 113-121. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12170 41. Turgeon, J., & Bureau, J. F. (2022). Parental psychological distress and child maladjustment: Exploring the moderating role of sibling relationship quality. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 968985. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.968985 42. Van Doorn, M.M.E.M., Kuijpers, R.C.W.M., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Bodden, D., Jansen, M., & Granic, I. (2015). Does Mother–Child Interaction Mediate the Relation Between Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Children’s Mental Health Problems?. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1257–1268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0309-1 43. Von Hinke, S., Rice, N., & Tominey, E. (2022). Mental health around pregnancy and child development from early childhood to adolescence. Labour Ecomonics, 78, 102245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102245 44. Walsh, G., & Zadurian, N. (2022). Exploring the Links Between Parental Attachment Style, Child Temperament and Parent-Child Relationship Quality During Adolescence. Journal of Children and Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02447-2 45. Wei, Z., Gao, M. Y., Fewtrell, M., Wells, J., & Yu, J. Y. (2021). Maternal mental health and well‑being during the COVID‑19 pandemic in Beijing, China. World Journal of Pediatrics, 17, 280-289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-021-00439-8 46. Whaley, G. L., & Pfefferbaum, B. (2023). Parental Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Psychological Outcomes and Risk and Protective Factors. Current psychiatry reports, 25(4), 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-023-01412-0 47. Wiley Online Library. (2020). APA poll finds nearly half anxious about getting COVID-19. Mental Health Weekly. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/mhw.32295 48. Wu, Q., & Xu, Y. (2020). Parenting stress and risk of child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic: A family stress theory-informed perspective. Developmental Child Welfare, 2(3), 180-196. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2516103220967937 49. Yan, H. X., Sayer, L. C., Negraia, D. V., Rinderknecht, R. G., Doan, L., Drotning, K. J., Fish, J. N., & Buck, C. (2022). Mothering and Stress during COVID-19: Exploring the Moderating Effects of Employment. Socius, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231221103056 50. Zamarro, G., & Prados, M. J. (2021). Gender differences in couples’ division of childcare, work and mental health during COVID-19. Review of Economics of the Household, 19, 11-40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-020-09534-7 51. Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, M. A. J., Veldkamp, S. A. M., Neumann, A., Barzeva, S. A., Nelemans, S. A., van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M., Branje, S. J. T., Hillegers, M. H. J., Meeus, W. H. J., Tiemeier, H., Hoijtink, H. J. A., Oldehinkel, A. J., & Boomsma, D. I. (2020). Parental Age and Offspring Childhood Mental Health: A Multi-Cohort, Population-Based Investigation. Wiley Periodicals, Inc, 91(3), 964-982. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13267