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Cited by 64COVID-19 and Mental HealthMindfulness and Compassion InterventionsDigital Mental Health Interventions

Cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion as emotion regulation strategies for parents during COVID-19: An online randomized controlled trial

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Preuss, Hanna, Capito, Klara, van Eickels, Rahel Lea, Zemp, Martina, Kolar, David Raphael·2021·Internet Interventions
DOI 10.1016/j.invent.2021.100388PMC PMC8063732

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Abstract

Objective. Parenting during pandemic restrictions places extreme demands on everyday family life, leading to increased stress levels for parents and distressed parent-child interactions. This RCT aimed to investigate whether cognitive reappraisal and self-compassion are helpful emotion regulation (ER) strategies to reduce individual and parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.Method. An online intervention for parents was developed focusing on the application of ER strategies to pandemic requirements of families. A sample of 265 parents were randomly assigned to either cognitive reappraisal (CR; n = 88), self-compassion (SC; n = 90) or wait-list control (WLC; n = 87) group. Interventions included two video sessions (day 1 and day 3) and three email reminders to transfer the application of ER strategies to daily family life (days 2, 4, 5). Parents’ perceived individual stress and parental stress were assessed at baseline (T0), at T1 prior to the booster session on day 3, and at T2 (7 days after baseline).Results. Significant decreases from T0 to T2 emerged for both primary stress outcomes in both intervention groups. Individual stress significantly decreased in CR compared to WLC at T2, but not compared to SC. No time × group interactions for parental stress were found. However, mediation analyses suggested that parental stress was indirectly decreased via reductions in individual stress for CR compared to WLC at both time points.Conclusions. COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic to affect family life. Cognitive reappraisal as a brief online intervention can ease acute stress and strengthen the mental health of parents in acute crises.

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  • Cognitive reappraisal decreased stress in German parents managing their families during the pandemic.

    “decreased stress in German parents managing their families (Preuss et al., 2021)”

    From RESILIENCE, COPING, AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ACROSS THE GLOBE – AN UPDATE: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? (2023) · cites this paper as Preuss et al., 2021

    The Results (ITT analyses and mediation analyses; page unavailable) report that cognitive reappraisal reduced parents’ individual stress compared with a wait-list control during the pandemic. The paper reports only an indirect effect on parental stress, and its Methods discuss parents in both Germany and Austria; the claim’s description of the participants as German parents is therefore narrower than the source establishes. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Much of the data supporting the benefits of these practices during the pandemic came from interventions administered virtually.

    “much of the data supporting the benefits of these practices during the pandemic were derived from interventions administered virtually (Preuss et al., 2021)”

    From RESILIENCE, COPING, AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ACROSS THE GLOBE – AN UPDATE: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? (2023) · cites this paper as Preuss et al., 2021

    The Method describes video sessions and email reminders, and the Discussion reports that the online cognitive-reappraisal intervention reduced parents’ stress during COVID-19 restrictions compared with a wait-list control. This supports an example of beneficial evidence from a virtual intervention, but the paper does not establish that much of the pandemic-era evidence came from virtual interventions. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
Preuss, H., Capito, K., van Eickels, R. L., Zemp, M., & Kolar, D. R.
Affiliations
  • University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
  • University of Vienna (AT)
Corresponding author
Kolar, David Raphael
ORCID
Venue
Internet Interventions
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-04
Volume
24
Pages
100388
ISSN
2214-7829 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.invent.2021.100388
PMC
PMC8063732
OpenAlex
W3149337822
Cited by
64
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 1
FWCI
8.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Internet Interventions (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
Keywords
cognitive reappraisal, self-compassion, emotion regulation, parental stress, COVID-19 pandemic, parenting, individual stress, mediation, parental mental health

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