Parenting-Related Exhaustion during the Italian COVID-19 Lockdown
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Worldwide, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has generated significant worry, uncertainty, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness. In Italy, these effects have been particularly pronounced. While research on the COVID-19 outbreak has mainly focused on the clinical features of infected patients and the psychological impact on the general population and health professionals, no investigation has yet assessed the psychological impact of the pandemic on parents. In the present research, we conducted a web-based survey of Italian parents to examine the prevalence of parenting-related exhaustion-and to identify its associated risk and protective factors-4 weeks into the lockdown. METHODS: A total of 1,226 parents provided their consent to participate in the study and completed a demographic questionnaire, information relating to particular COVID-19 experiences, and measures of emotional exhaustion, parental resilience, social connections, and psychological distress during the lockdown. RESULTS: Seventeen percent of our sample experienced significant parenting-related exhaustion, with mothers more severely affected. Multiple regression analyses showed that greater parenting-related exhaustion was predicted by psychological distress, lower parental resilience, motherhood, fewer perceived social connections, and being single, as well as having a child with special needs, having a large number of children, and having younger children. CONCLUSION: The findings add further support to the call for preventive programs to support parents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health professionals and social workers should be warned of the effects of lockdown and social distancing on parenting and, consequently, the well-being of children.
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Being female is a relevant risk factor for the expression of negative emotions and worse mental conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“The literature regarding gender, for instance, consistently indicated being female as a relevant risk factor for the expression of negative emotions and worse mental conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown [1]”
From The Role of Pre-Pandemic Mental Health Status and Personality Traits on Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Lockdown among Italian Young Adults (2023) · cites this paper as [1]
The Discussion reports that mothers had significantly higher psychological distress than fathers during lockdown, supporting a gender difference in mental health. The study concerns Italian parents of children aged 0–13, however, so it does not establish the claim for women generally; it also does not separately report a gender difference in the expression of negative emotions. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Marchetti, D., Fontanesi, L., Mazza, C., Di Giandomenico, S., Roma, P., & Verrocchio, M. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Chieti-Pescara (IT)
- Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Fontanesi, Lilybeth
- Venue
- Journal of Pediatric Psychology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2020-10-17
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1114-1123
- ISSN
- 0146-8693 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-735X
- PMC
- PMC7665691
- OpenAlex
- W3093369882
- Cited by
- 300
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 97 · 2021: 87 · 2020: 9
- FWCI
- 24.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Pediatric Psychology (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
- Keywords
- COVID-19 lockdown, parental resilience, social connectedness, motherhood, single parents, children with special needs, risk and protective factors, Italian parents
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, Burnout, Psychological, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adult, Child, Female, Humans, Italy, Male, Parents, Pneumonia, Viral, Quarantine, Surveys and Questionnaires, Parenting, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics
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