How daily stress during COVID-19 affected parents’ discipline

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/936944

 

 News Release 6-Dec-2021
Moms and dads lashed out most often late in the day, study finds
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Ohio State University

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents were most likely to use aggressive discipline on their children when their daily stress levels were highest, usually late in the day, a study of parents in central Ohio found.

Results of the study, which measured stress levels three times a day for two weeks, showed that for each higher level of stress (rated from 1-10), parents had 1.3 times greater odds of using corporal punishment, such as shaking or spanking a child, or psychological aggression, such as trying to make the child feel ashamed.

It wasn’t overall levels of stress that mattered most, said Bridget Freisthler, lead author of the study and professor of social work at The Ohio State University.

“It appears that general levels of stress are less important to how parents discipline their children than the stress they are feeling in the moment,” Freisthler said.

These aggressive discipline actions were most likely to occur in the afternoon or evening.

“As the stress built up during the day, they may be more likely to lash out and use aggressive discipline that isn’t good for kids,” she said.

----- 

tags: child abuse,