Parenting Stress and Its Impact on Parental and Child Functioning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analytical Review

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, prolonged periods of physical and social isolation imposed significant challenges on parents and children, disrupting their socioeconomic stability and psychological well-being. This study examined the effects of parenting stress on aspects of parents' and children's functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A comprehensive search of studies from eight electronic sources, including the World Health Organization's COVID-19 database, yielded 42 studies focusing on the associations between parenting stress, as measured by standardized scales, and child and parental outcomes. Multilevel random-effect models were used to analyze weighted effect sizes. Our findings revealed medium-to-large effect sizes (ranging from r = .29 to .55) in the associations between parenting stress and (a) externalizing child behaviors (r = .41), (b) internalizing child behaviors (r = .48), (c) negative parents' behavioral engagements (r = .29), (d) parents' mental health (r = .46), and (e) poor parent-child relationship quality (r = .55). These results underscore the significance of addressing parenting stress during a pandemic. Practice implications suggest that governmental or community support, along with tangible assistance, can alleviate parenting stress and positively impact the well-being and functioning of parents and children in the pandemic and postpandemic era, especially in light of the current global mental health crisis. Furthermore, considering the influence of parenting stress on treatment engagement and motivation, family- or parent-oriented interventions that address parenting stress can be more effective at reducing the negative consequences of a pandemic on children and their parents.