How parents spent time at home with their preschool-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020

Abstract

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been seen in more than 120 countries, including Turkey, which took public health measures to reduce the spread of the novel virus. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the Turkish education system, where schools closed indefinitely on March 16, 2020, due to the pandemic. School closures immediately changed the lives of Turkish children and their parents, as children started to spend more time with their families at home during this pandemic. This article addresses how parents spent time with their children at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how their feelings changed during this time. Purposive sampling was used to select 25 parents whose children in preschool education during the spring semester of 2020. This study used qualitative methods, collecting data through a semi-structured interview form. Interviews were conducted over the telephone because of the social distancing guidelines during the pandemic. Results from the interviews show that parents engaged in several different types of activities with their children at home during the pandemic. Parents’ reflections detailed how they noticed behavioral, psychological, socialization, and school-based impacts on their children during the pandemic period. Besides, findings indicate that parents generally experienced negative feelings and effects due to the pandemic. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of the pandemic on the lives of parents and their young children.

Keywords

children coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic parents preschool

The World Health Organization (2020) declared the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic crisis in January 2020. In Turkey, the first Coronavirus case was confirmed on March 10, 2020; shortly after, the Turkish government recommended that citizens stay at home to hinder the rapid spread of COVID-19. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were seen across many parts of life in Turkey: restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, mosques, schools, and universities across the country were placed on an immediate break. These actions were consistent with the recommendations in the educational and public health literature; for example, school closure was seen as an important method to decrease the spread in the community during an influenza pandemic (Russell et al., 2016). This is especially important in early childhood education, where children are less likely to socially distance or engage in appropriate respiratory hygiene (e.g. washing hands, sneezing into a tissue, etc.). In Turkey, preschool institutions involve the education of children between the ages of three and six, who may attend either half-or full-time. The COVID-19 pandemic had an immediate impact on the Turkish Education System, including these preschool institutions. Schools closed on March 16, 2020, due to the pandemic in Turkey; many other countries followed suit and began distance education online instead of face-to-face schooling. The spring semester in Turkey finished with distance education in June. Preschools in Turkey were reopened on August 31, 2020. However, it remains to be seen what impact this period of social distancing and distance education will have on school-aged children. These children spent much more time with their families at home than usual during this pandemic.

Parents aim to raise their children to deal effectively with difficulties. Therefore, they have an important role to support their children in difficult circumstances, such as a global pandemic (Masten and Obradović, 2008). Children generally spend more time together with their parents at home during serious disease outbreaks. As a result of school closure during situations like these, parents will take care of their children’s education. During this time, parents should take on the role of teacher to meet the educational needs of their children. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic caused adverse experiences for children and parents (Başaran and Aksoy, 2020). Children cannot play with their friends or have face-to-face communication with their peers during periods of social distancing. It is thought that this situation will cause serious problems for children (Ghosh et al., 2020). For this reason, parents should give extra support to their children in terms of playing and socialization. It is difficult for children, particularly young children, to comprehend a “pandemic” and understand its effects. Thus, parents should offer increased support to their children during such a period, to help them process the situation and ensure that they suffer no adverse effects from separation from school and peers.

The educational and social problems experienced by children during a pandemic can cause extra stress for parents. The social and economic impact of pandemics on children and families has been explored by many studies (Chen et al., 2011; Esposito et al., 2011; Principi et al., 2003); however, the literature provides scant insight into the effects of pandemics on education and social problems of preschool children in particular, as well as parents’ difficulties caring for children during such periods. Previous studies (Basurto-Dávila et al., 2013; Gift et al., 2010; Miller et al., 2010; Wong et al., 2014; Ishimoto et al.,2020) in this area have generally focused on the experiences of primary and high school students. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the lack of research on preschool children’s experiences during pandemics. Moreover, there are not enough studies on preschool children’s activities and behavior at home according to their parents during a pandemic. This study generally aimed at examination of the behaviors and time spent at home by preschool children between the age of three and six during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on their parents’ assessment. The questions that guided this study were: “How did parents spend their time with their children at home during the Covid-19 pandemic?” and “How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect their child according to the parents?”

Literature review

The long duration of school closures during the pandemic could have long-term effects on children and their families. According to their research on children and families during epidemic periods, Johnson et al. (2008) stated that school closure did not cause serious problems for families’ economic situations or childcare expenses. However, in their studies of the effects of the 2009 H191 pandemic on the families, Effler et al. (2010) emphasized that parents had to make childcare arrangements in the wake of school closures, and Mizumoto et al. (2013) added that leaving children at home was dependent on the age of the children and the availability of special childcare arrangements. The results of these studies indicate that the longer the duration a pandemic continues, the more problems, and changes in the daily routines of children and families it can cause. During pandemics, parents will encounter with many difficult choices. They will have to deal with the demands of homeschooling of their children, as well as meeting the requirements of their own employment (Coyne et al., 2020). Başaran and Aksoy (2020) found that during the Covid-19 pandemic, children and parents experience adverse experiences that include psychological, health, and usage of technology. Cluver et al. (2020) added that child-driven stress of parents increases during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, mothers experienced negative feelings in the time of Covid-19 (Usta and Gökcan, 2020) and parents showed more stress because of difficulties in dealing with the quarantine of Covid-19 (Spinelli et al., 2020).

Though they are rarely seen, pandemics can cause destructive crises that have longstanding physical, social, and psychological effects on the lives of many children and their families (Sprang and Silman, 2013). Researchers have found that parents have difficulties in securing childcare, and thus face economic problems as a consequence of school closure during a pandemic (Basurto-Dávila et al., 2013; Tsai et al., 2017; Zheteyeva et al., 2017). In addition to this, school closures cause a decrease in children’s communication with schoolmates, hence constraining and negatively impacting their social relations (Brooks et al., 2020; Jackson et al., 2011; Miller et al., 2010). It can be said that children who must stay at home due to a pandemic can be socially affected by school closures. Wang et al. (2020) added that psychosocial stress and changes in lifestyle caused by home confinement during a pandemic could also have detrimental effects on the mental and physical health of children. Pisano et al. (2020) found that quarantine phases have critical effects on the emotions and behavior of children. In the studies of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the daily routines of preschool-children at home, researchers found that children played games and made more physical activities with their parents (Demirbaş and Koçak, 2020; Kundu and Bhowmik, 2020; Öztürk-Demir et al., 2020).

Despite the existing research, there has not been any attempt to address the impact of pandemic-related school closures on preschool children, specifically focusing on the issue of how preschool children spend their time and behave at home during a pandemic. The present study focuses on how parents spend their time with their children at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how the Covid-19 pandemic affects their children between the ages of three and six.

Methods

This study employed qualitative research methods to understand the activities that parents did with their children, what they observed in their children’s behavior at home, and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their children.

Participants

Purposeful sampling, which is one of the most effective non-random sample methods (Robinson, 2014), was used to select participants for this study. Inclusion criteria included parents who have children between the ages of 3 and 6 years old and send their children to a preschool education institution. Twenty-five parents were recruited for participation in the research. The potential participant pool was limited to those who were spending time at home during the pandemic of Covid-19 with their children. Potential participants were identified by demographic information. They were asked about their education and employment, as well as the gender of their preschool-aged children (3–6 years old).

Table 1 presents the characteristics of the 25 parents in the study. The parents participating in the present study had 25 children (13 boys, 12 girls) in preschool education. Nineteen of the parent participants were mothers and six were fathers. In terms of education, nine of the mothers had received an undergraduate-level education, four had a high school diploma, two completed postgraduate education, two were secondary school graduates, and one completed a graduate degree. Five fathers had received an undergraduate-level education, while one had completed a graduate degree. In terms of occupation, twelve mothers were housewives, two were professors, two worked in governmental positions, one was a police officer, one was an engineer, and one was a teacher. Three fathers were teachers, two worked in governmental positions, and one was a professor.

Table 1.

Demographics of parents.

Participant	Relationship	Gender of child	Educational level	Employment
Parent1	Father	Girl	Undergraduate	Governmental positions
Parent2	Mother	Boy	Undergraduate	Governmental positions
Parent3	Mother	Boy	Undergraduate	Homemaker
Parent4	Mother	Girl	Secondary	Homemaker
Parent5	Mother	Girl	Secondary	Homemaker
Parent6	Mother	Boy	High school	Homemaker
Parent7	Mother	Boy	Postgraduate	Professor
Parent8	Father	Boy	Undergraduate	Teacher
Parent9	Father	Boy	Undergraduate	Teacher
Parent10	Mother	Boy	Undergraduate	Homemaker
Parent11	Mother	Girl	Undergraduate	Homemaker
Parent12	Mother	Boy	Undergraduate	Homemaker
Parent13	Father	Girl	Graduate	Professor
Parent14	Mother	Girl	High school	Homemaker
Parent15	Father	Girl	Undergraduate	Governmental positions
Parent16	Mother	Girl	Undergraduate	Teacher
Parent17	Mother	Boy	Undergraduate	Homemaker
Parent18	Mother	Boy	Undergraduate	Police officer
Parent19	Mother	Girl	Undergraduate	Engineer
Parent20	Mother	Girl	High school	Homemaker
Parent21	Mother	Boy	High school	Homemaker
Parent22	Mother	Boy	Undergraduate	Governmental positions
Parent23	Mother	Girl	Graduate	Homemaker
Parent24	Father	Girl	Undergraduate	Teacher
Parent25	Mother	Boy	Postgraduate	Professor

Procedure

We conducted semi-structured interviews with each of the 25 parents. The interviews were conducted via telephone because of the restrictions on social and physical distancing during the pandemic phase. Each interview session lasted between 30 and 40 minutes. Parents were informed about the aim of the research and voluntarily agreed to participate in the study, before responding to the interview questions. The interview questions were designed to elicit responses on what parents did with their children and what they observed in their children’s behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how the parents themselves felt at this time. Table 2 lists the specific questions asked during the interviews.

Table 2.

Interview questions.

1. During the pandemic, how do you spend time with your children? What are you doing? Who determines the activities you have done?

2. How does your child behave at home during a pandemic?

3. In what ways do you think this pandemic phase will affect your child? What are your solutions for your problems with your child caused by the pandemic?

4. As a parent, how do you feel during the pandemic? Why? What do you need the most?

All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed, and each participant was assigned a unique identification code to protect their anonymity and privacy. The data were, then, analyzed using content analysis methods. Researchers read and reread the interview transcripts multiple times, before marking the data concerning sub-categories. Then the marked sub-categories were read and utilized to search for major categories. After reviewing these categories, we defined and revised each theme. Research questions were used to determine the themes. During the final stage of data analysis, excerpts from the parents’ interviews were selected to support the various themes and categories.

Ethical issues

Prior to the research, written information about the study was sent to parents through e-mail or WhatsApp. Parents were asked for their willingness to participate in the study. Parental informed consent for their children’s behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic at home was obtained for all participants. The aim of research, confidentiality, and voluntary participation was detailed on parental informed consent. In addition, parents were told that they might not answer unwanted questions and withdraw whenever they want. During interviews, parents answered all questions and they completed interviews. Interviews were took place at times determined by parents.

Results

This study examined the time spent by preschool children during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those children’s behaviors, based on their parents’ assessment. The analysis of the interview data yielded four main themes: activities at home, behaviors of children at home, aspects of children’s lives that can be affected by the pandemic, and how parents feel during this time.

Activities at home

In the preschool education program of the Turkish Ministry of National Education, there are ten types of activities: Turkish language, art, drama, music, movement, play, science, math, preparatory for reading, and field trips activities. Parents in the study emphasized that they spent time engaging in different activities with their children over the course of the pandemic period. The categorization of these different activities was done according to the types of activities in the preschool education program of the Turkish Ministry of National Education. Table 3 lists the categories and sub-categories for Research Question 1.

Table 3.

Categories and sub-categories regarding home activities.

Categories	Sub-categories
Play activities	➢ Play a game
	➢ Dynamic plays
	➢ Hide-and-seek
	➢ Playing house
	➢ Sport
	➢ Mind games
Turkish language activities	➢ Read books
Turkish language activities	➢ Activities sent by the teacher
Art activities	➢ Draw
	➢ Paint
	➢ Cut and paste
Dramatic activities	➢ Bake cakes and cookies
	➢ Spend time on the balcony or garden
	➢ Clean up
Who decides activities	➢ Child
	➢ Parents
	➢ Teacher
	➢ Sibling

Table 3 shows that parents participated in four main types of activities with their children at home during the COVID-19 pandemic: “play activities,” “Turkish language activities,” “art activities,” and “drama activities.” Parents indicated that they played games and hide and seek, and played house and sports—all of which were seen as “play activities.” In the category of “Turkish language activities,” parents said that they read books recommended by their children’s teachers, as well as doing other educational activities sent by the teachers. Drawing, painting, and cut-and-paste type exercises (e.g. worksheets, collages, etc.) were done as “art activities.” Activities related to drama included making cakes and cookies, spending time on a balcony or in the garden, and cleaning up with children.

According to the findings, children, parents, teachers, and siblings, all played roles in determining the type of activities to engage in. Parents indicated that their children generally decided which activities they wanted to do.

“Generally we play a game; we spend time in this way. He plays with his brothers. He paints and loves painting. He does not do anything different. We play educational games on the balcony with pencils and paper. Sometimes I decide on activities and make research on the Internet for which activities we can do. Sometimes, he determines activities and said that I want to do this.” (Father (Teacher) of 4-year boy/Parent9)

“We make activities in the kitchen, for example, knead, make a cookie, we set or clear the table together. Except for this, the teacher suggested some activities with online education and books, we participated in these activities. We read books. We plant flowers together on the balcony and water the flowers. We make decisions together about activities; especially we try not to get bored during this time at home. We make activities in this direction. . .” (Mother (Professor)of 5-year boy/Parent25)

“I spend quality time with my child. Within this period, we make activities such as playing house, board games, making a cookie, cleaning up the house, also we do sport together. We cut and paste together, especially with father. My child generally determines activities and leads us to do.” (Mother (Homemaker)of 6-year girl/Parent23)

Behaviors of children at home

Parents indicated that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, their children demonstrated different behavior problems at home. Parents focused only on the negative behaviors of their children at home during interviews. Researches about behaviors of children (Achenbach and Rescorla, 2004; Behar, 1977; Goodman, 1997) indicated that behavior problems of children were seen to form two domains; externalizing and internalizing. Externalizing problems include under-controlled and acting-out behaviors, on the other hand internalizing problems involve experiences of distress. The categorization of behaviors of children at home was done according to these descriptions of behaviors. Table 4 lists these behaviors under three major categories.

Table 4.

Categories and sub-categories regarding behaviors of children at home.

Categories	Sub-categories
Externalizing	➢ Aggressive
	➢ Getting angry
	➢ Using violence
	➢ Getting ill-tempered
	➢ Bother sibling
	➢ Give trouble
	➢ Bedtime changed
	➢ Continuous full of action
	➢ Disagreement
Internalizing	➢ Getting bored
	➢ Being scared
	➢ Cry

As Table 4 shows, parents identified their children’s behaviors at home during the pandemic as “externalizing,” and “internalizing.” According to parents involved in this study, their children’s behaviors generally changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some parents indicated that their children behaved aggressively by getting angry and using violence. Parents explained that these children started to bother their sibling(s) and that the children’s behaviors made trouble. These children were also described as having more disagreements with their family than usual. Many parents indicated that their children started to get bored and/or scared and would cry. Some parents also explained that their children’s bedtimes changed due to the altered structure of their daily lives because of the pandemic and that their children wanted to go outside more frequently indicating changes in activity and energy levels.

“My child said that he was bored. Sometimes he shows aggressive behaviors. I think that this pandemic also has effects on him. He tends to full of action plays to spend his energy. Like jumping on chairs and playing football at home.” (Father (Teacher)of 6-year boy/Parent8)

“He started to get bored at home and wanted to go outside. I explain we could not because of the virus, but he insisted. The bedtime of my child changed, now he has started to sleep late.” (Mother (Homemaker)of 5-year boy/Parent10)

“He screams like this. He bothers with his sister. He started to interfere with everything at home. He started to speak too much. His speech increased 3–4 times because he continually fights at home. His regular sleep routine changed. The school closure had adverse effects on him.” (Mother (Homemaker)of 6-year boy/Parent12)

Aspects of children’s lives that can be affected

In this study, parents said that their children could be affected on different levels of their lives and development because of this pandemic phase. Effects of major stresses, as encountered in war, disasters, or other life-threatening experiences on children were seen in terms of anti-social, aggressive, and destructive behavior (Yule, 2001) and emotional (Schonfeld and Demaria, 2015). The categorization of the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on children’s different aspects of their lives was done according to these effects of disasters. These aspects of children’s lives are listed in Table 5.

Table 5.

Categories and sub-categories related to aspects of children’s lives that can be affected.

Categories	Sub-categories
Behavioral	➢ Aggressive behaviors
	➢ Peevish behaviors
	➢ Routines changed
	➢ Crying
	➢ Spend more time with TV and tablet
	➢ Do not want to hug
Psychological	➢ Boredom
Psychological	➢ Rise anxiety level
Socialization
Adaptation for school/rejecting going to school
Solutions of parents for their problems with children	➢ Do nothing
	➢ Make concessions from my rules
	➢ Try to distract
	➢ Do not talk about COVID-19 beside him/her
	➢ Speak that we are safe

Table 5 reports that, according to parents’ perceptions, children can be affected in four main areas because of being at home during the COVID-19 pandemic: “behavioral,” “psychological,” “socialization,” and “adaptation for school/rejecting going to school.” In terms of behavioral issues, parents explained that they noticed aggressive and peevish behaviors in their children and that their children’s routines were changed because of the pandemic school closure period. Also, these parents indicated that their children started to spend more “screen time” consuming media on television, smartphones, and tablets. Many parents believed that boredom and anxiety levels would increase as well. Finally, parents said that this phase would negatively affect their children’s socialization and adaptation to school. They described these themes as follows:

“It can affect psychologically because my child became very aggressive. She regularly cried. She began to hit doors and threw objects. We tried to distract her from these behaviors and not to make her cry, but this was not effective either.” (Father (governmental officer) of 3-year girl/Parent1)

“I think that it will time to keep pace with new education period for him. He will face with some problems in school.” (Father (governmental officer) of 6-year girl/Parent15)

“Being at home alone will cause serious problems, my child forgot how to play with friends and he has been alone at home. I think that every child will need psychological treatment and it should be provided at schools after this pandemic.” (Mother (professor) of 6-year boy/Parent7)

Many parents indicated that they had not taken any action to solve the problems caused for their children during the pandemic, but some parents made changes to their household rules, or deliberately chose not to talk about COVID-19 around their children.

“True as god, I’m not doing anything except grit my teeth. I grit my teeth when I speak.” (Mother (Homemaker)of 6-year boy/Parent17)

“I think this will negatively affect my child. She started to spend more time on the telephone and onTV. She will have problems in terms of social relationships, and she is suspicious of her environment. I talk with my child to reduce her anxiety level.” (Father(teacher)of 6-year girl/Parent24)

“I think my child will be sweet on me during this time because I do everything that he wants. I do nothing for this situation.” (Mother(Homemaker) of 5-year boy/Parent3)

How parents feel

In the researches about the effects of pandemic (Carleton, 2016; Rubin et al., 2010; Sim et al., 2010; Wu et al., 2005), it was clear that not only this process affected physical health but also the mental health of individuals. In this study, parents stated that they generally felt negative emotions because of this pandemic process. The categorization of effects of Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of parents was done according to two dimensions; negatively and positively.

Table 6 provides a detailed illustration of parents’ feelings during the COVID-19 pandemic, their rationales for these feelings, and what they think they need to deal with their feelings during this time. Only one parent articulated positive feelings, which he/she explained was due to having more time to spend with his/her children during the pandemic. Other parents indicated that they felt terrible, bored, exhausted, scared, and tired. Actions that parents said could support them and fulfill their needs during the pandemic period including going outside, taking a journey, having a rest, returning to old routines, and meeting with their loved ones.

Table 6.

Categories and sub-categories relating to how parents feel.

Categories	Sub-categories
Negatively	➢ Feel terrible
	➢ Bored
	➢ Getting exhausted
	➢ Being scared
	➢ Tired
	➢ Stressful
Positively	➢ I think that I am a good parent
The reason for feeling negatively	➢ All the time, doing the same things
	➢ Children are getting tired
	➢ Being at home all the time
The reason for feeling positively	➢ Have time for children
Parents need the most. . .	➢ Go outside
	➢ Take a journey
	➢ Have a rest
	➢ Return to old routines
	➢ Meet with loved ones

“I feel terrible and I am depressed. All the time, I am at home, isolated. I need to go outside, walk, and travel with my children. I need these rather than being at home.” (Father (governmental officer) of 3-year girl/Parent1)

“Honestly, my psychology was deteriorated. . .we are affected, being at home all the time, we come face to face. . . and I feel stuffed to do the same things.” (Mother(Homemaker) of 6-year boy/Parent21)

“I am worn out but I have to stand against difficulties. I am too tired with [my] children, I need togo outside for fresh air.” (Mother(Homemaker)of 5-year girl/Parent4)

“I get bored a lot. I am scared and cannot to go outside because of the virus. I isolated myself from everything. I want to walk outside. I want to walk for a long time.” (Mother(Homemaker)of 6-year girl/Parent20)

Discussion

The findings of this research make apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the activities of children at home with their parents, as well as the behaviors of these children and the feelings of their parents. The results of this study indicate that parents do different activities with their children during this period, falling under four main categories. Teachers suggested some activities for parents to participate in for the period of online education during the pandemic, and parents wanted to spend quality time with their children at home. Mart and Kesicioğlu (2020) found that parents preferred teachers as a source of information about plays and activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, parents wanted to prevent their children from getting bored. All of these influences affected the selection of the different types of activities that children participated in with their parents at home. Physical activities including games, sports, etc. are important for childhood development, with researchers and physicians recommending that children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17 years engage in physical activities of moderate intensity for at least 60 minutes each day. Sports, games, dance, active play, going to school, and playing on playgrounds and in parks can all support children’s daily physical activities (Guan et al., 2020). Because of widespread closures due to COVID-19, many children could not go to school and had to stay at home. For this reason, play activities at home are especially significant for children at this time. School activities with online programs, supported by teachers or other school staff during the period of school closure, can also help meet to provide the demands of children in terms of education.

Parents also expressed that their children’s behaviors were affected negatively during the COVID-19 pandemic when schools were closed, and children had to stay at home and continue education through online programs. In Turkey, young people between the ages of 0 and 20 had to stay at home during this period, because governmental orders banned them from going outside to help mitigate the spread of the disease. Additionally, young children in particular have difficulty grasping the concept of a pandemic and understanding the need for restrictive measures such as stay-at-home orders. Consequently, these situations can have intense effects on the behaviors of children. Similarly, Pisano et al. (2020) identified in their study that the COVID-19 pandemic period of social distancing caused a negative change in the behaviors and emotions of children between the ages of 4 and 10. A study by Başaran and Aksoy (2020) indicated that behavioral problems of children in the time of Covid-19 according to parents were aggressivity, getting angry, and disruptive behavior.

The present study showed that parents believed that their preschool-aged children would be affected in their behavior, psychology, socialization, and adaptation for school because of their time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents stated that this period mostly had negative effects on the behaviors of their children. They said that their children showed aggressive and peevish behaviors, as well as crying more frequently. In addition, the routines of these children changed due to their increased time spent at home with their families. In terms of psychological impacts, children were bored, and their anxiety levels increased. This finding is supported by Xie et al.’s (2020) study, which found that children in grades 2–6 also showed anxiety during COVID-19 because of their decrease in social interactions and outside activities.

Our results suggest that parents generally did not take specific action to solve the problems that emerged in their children during the pandemic period, except for a few parents who indicated that they had to make compromises from their usual house rules. This finding shows that parents are struggling with managing their children and households as they stay home during the pandemic. Indeed, COVID-19 has caused significant stress and anxiety for many parents (Coyne et al., 2020).

Our results indicate that parents generally had negative feelings because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They expressed that they felt terrible, bored, exhausted, tired, stressed, and scared. Parents articulated many reasons for feeling these negative emotions, including caused by their children, being “stuck” at home, and lack of novelty in their daily life because of following the same routine each day. Changes in daily routines, decreasing socialization, stress related to children, and increasing workloads can all affect the feelings of parents, especially parents who are employed full-time and must balance work and childcare during stay-at-home orders. This finding is consistent with studies on the effects of previous pandemics on adults, which identified that disease outbreaks can cause serious problems in adults’ socio-psychological health (Tian et al., 2020), anxiety behaviors (Jones and Salathé, 2009), and emotions and avoidance tactics (Lau et al., 2010). In addition, parents stated that their stress increased because of adverse experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic (Başaran and Aksoy, 2020).

This study was not without limitations. One group of parents who sent their children to preschool education was participated in this research. Information from parents who do not send their children to preschool education was not collected in the comparable group. Future studies will rely on both groups of parents to compare the effects of the pandemic process.

Conclusion

The purpose of this article was to demonstrate how parents spent time with their children at home and how their feelings changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings of this study support the literature, which suggests that pandemics could severely affect the behaviors of preschool children at home, as well as their relationships with their parents. The results of this study are particularly important, as they reveal how parents spent time at home with their young children during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how children’s behavior changed and how this impacted their parents’ emotions. We recommend that parents should get support to share their feelings and improve their coping skills during pandemic periods like the COVID-19 outbreak. One particularly appropriate solution for these parents during times of social distancing could be participation in online programs about activities and good communication with their children during the pandemic.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Ayşe Duran

References

Achenbach

Rescorla

(2004) Empirically based assessment and taxonomy: Applications to infants and toddlers. In: DelCarmen-Wiggins

Carter

(eds) Handbook of Infant, Toddler, and Preschool Mental Health Assessment. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 161–182.

Başaran

Aksoy

(2020) Anne-babalarin korona-virüs (covid-19) salgini sürecinde aile yaşantilarina ilişkin görüşleri. Journal of International Social Research 13(71): 668–678.

Basurto-Dávila

Garza

Meltzer

, et al. (2013) Household economic impact and attitudes toward school closures in two cities in Argentina during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 7(6): 1308–1315.

Behar

(1977) The preschool behavior questionnaire. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 5(3): 265–275.

Brooks

Smith

Webster

, et al. (2020) The impact of unplanned school closure on children’s social contact: Rapid evidence review. Eurosurveillance 25(13): 2000188.

Carleton

(2016) Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all? Journal of Anxiety Disorders 41: 5–21.

Chen

Huang

Chuang

, et al. (2011) Social and economic impact of school closure resulting from pandemic influenza A/H1N1. Infections Journal 62(3): 200–203.

Cluver

Lachman

Sherr

, et al. (2020) Parenting in a time of COVID-19. The Lancet 395 (10231): e64. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30736-4..

Coyne

Gould

Grimaldi

, et al. (2020) First things first: Parent psychological flexibility and self-compassion during COVID-19. Behavior Analysis in Practice. Epub ahead of print 6 May 2020. DOI: 10.1007/s40617-020-00435-w.

10.

Demirbaş

Koçak

(2020) 2-6 yaş arasinda çocuğu olan ebeveynlerin bakiş açisiyla covid-19 salgin sürecinin değerlendirilmesi. Avrasya Sosyal ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi 7(6): 328–349

11.

Effler

Carcione

Giele

, et al. (2010) Household responses to pandemic (H1N1) 2009-related school closures, Perth, Western Australia. Emerging Infectious Diseases 16(2): 205–2011.

12.

Esposito

Molteni

Daleno

, et al. (2011) Impact of pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza on children and their families: Comparison with seasonal A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 influenza viruses. Infections Journal 63(4): 300–307.

13.

Ghosh

Dubey

Chatterjee

, et al. (2020) Impact of COVID-19 on children: Special focus on the psychosocial aspect. Minerva Pediatrica 72: 226–235.

14.

Gift

Palekar

Sodha

, et al. Pennsylvania H1N1 Working Group (2010) Household effects of school closure during pandemic (H1N1) 2009, Pennsylvania, USA. Emerging Infectious Diseases 16(8): 1315–1317.

15.

Goodman

(1997) The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38(5): 581–586.

16.

Guan

Okely

Aguilar-Farias

, et al. (2020) Promoting healthy movement behaviours among children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health 4: 416–418.

17.

Ishimoto

Yamane

Matsumoto

, et al. (2020) The impact on children’s mental health of school closures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Preprints 2020, 2020060006. DOI: 10.20944/preprints202006.0006.v1

18.

Jackson

Mangtani

Vynnycky

, et al. (2011) School closures and student contact patterns. Emerging Infectious Diseases 17(2): 245–247.

19.

Johnson

Moore

Edelson

, et al. (2008) Household responses to school closure resulting from outbreak of influenza B, North Carolina. Emerging Infectious Diseases 14(7): 1024–1030.

20.

Jones

Salathé

(2009) Early assessment of anxiety and behavioral response to novel swine-origin influenza A(H1N1). PLoS One 4(12): e8032.

21.

Kundu

Bhowmik

(2020) Societal impact of novel corona virus (COVID-19 pandemic) in India. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/vm5rz

22.

Lau

Griffiths

Choi

, et al. (2010) Avoidance behaviors and negative psychological responses in the general population in the initial stage of the H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong. BMC Infectious Diseases 10(1): 1–13.

23.

Mart

Kesicioğlu

(2020) COVID-19 pandemi sürecinde ailelerin evde oyun oynamaya ilişkin görüşleri. Turkish Studies 15(4): 945–958.

24.

Masten

Obradović

(2008) Disaster preparation and recovery: Lessons from research on resilience in human development. Ecology and Society 13(1): 9. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss1/art9/.

25.

Miller

Danon

O’Hagan

, et al. (2010) Student behavior during a school closure caused by pandemic influenza A/H1N1. PLoS One 5(5): e10425.

26.

Mizumoto

Yamamoto

Nishiura

(2013) Contact behaviour of children and parental employment behaviour during school closures against the pandemic influenza a (H1N1-2009) in Japan. Journal of International Medical Research 41(3): 716–724.

27.

Öztürk-Demir

Kuru

Yıldız-Demir

(2020) Covid-19 pandemi günlerinde anneler ne düşünür çocuklar ne ister? anne ve çocuklarinin pandemi algisi. Avrasya Sosyal ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi 7(5): 204–220.

28.

Pisano

Galimi

Cerniglia

(2020) A qualitative report on exploratory data on the possible emotional/behavioral correlates of Covid-19 lockdown in 4-10 years children in Italy. PsyArXiv Preprints. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/stwbn.

29.

Principi

Esposito

Marchisio

, et al. (2003) Socioeconomic impact of influenza on healthy children and their families. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 22(10 Suppl): S207–S210.

30.

Robinson

(2014) Sampling in interview-based qualitative research: A theoretical and practical guide. Qualitative Research in Psychology 11(1): 25–41.

31.

Rubin

Potts

HWW

Ve Michie

(2010) The impact of communications about swine flu (influenza A H1N1v) on public responses to the outbreak: Results from 36 national telephone surveys in the UK. Health Technology Assessment 14(34): 183–266.

32.

Russell

Zheteyeva

Gao

, et al. (2016) Reactive school closure during increased influenza-like illness (ILI) activity in Western Kentucky, 2013: A field evaluation of effect on ILI incidence and economic and social consequences for families. In: Open Forum Infectious Diseases, vol. 3. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.1–7.

33.

Schonfeld

Demaria

(2015) Providing psychosocial support to children and families in the aftermath of disasters and crises. Pediatrics 136(4): e1120–e1130.

34.

Sim

Huak Chan

Chong

, et al. (2010) Psychosocial and coping responses within the community health care setting towards a national outbreak of an infectious disease. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 68(2): 195–202.

35.

Spinelli

Lionetti

Pastore

, et al. (2020) Parents’ stress and children’s psychological problems in families facing the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Frontiers in psychology 11: 1713.

36.

Sprang

Silman

(2013) Posttraumatic stress disorder in parents and youth after health-related disasters. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 7(1): 105–110.

37.

Tian

, et al. (2020) Psychological symptoms of ordinary Chinese citizens based on SCL-90 during the level I emergency response to COVID-19. Psychiatry Research 288: 112992.

38.

Tsai

Khan

Shi

, et al. (2017) Evaluation of unintended social and economic consequences of an unplanned school closure in rural Illinois. Journal of School Health 87(7): 546–553.

39.

Usta

Gökcan

(2020) Çocukların ve annelerinin gözünden Covid-19. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research 6(2): 187–206.

40.

Wang

Zhang

Zhao

, et al. (2020) Mitigate the effects of home confinement on children during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet 395(10228): 945–947.

41.

Wong

Shi

Gao

, et al. (2014) Why is school closed today? Unplanned K-12 school closures in the United States, 2011–2013. PLoS One 9(12): e113755.

42.

World Health Organization (2020) Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations During the COVID-19 Outbreak. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. Available at: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf (accessed 18 March 2020).

43.

Chan

(2005) Posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression in survivors of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Journal of Traumatic Stress 18: 39–42.

44.

Xie

Xue

Zhou

, et al. (2020) Mental health status among children in home confinement during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in Hubei province, China. JAMA Pediatrics 174: 898.

45.

Yule

(2001) Post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. International Review of Psychiatry 13(3): 194–200.

46.

Zheteyeva

Rainey

Gao

, et al. (2017) Unintended costs and consequences of school closures implemented in preparation for hurricane Isaac in Harrison County school district, Mississippi, August-September 2012. PLoS One 12(11): e0184326.