Predictors of Mothers' Perceived Change in Warm and Punitive Parenting During COVID-19

The goal of the present study was to examine the child, caregiver, and family domain predictors of mothers' perceived changes in warm and punitive parenting during the COVID-19 outbreak. We investigated child temperament (sociability, activity, emotionality), maternal efficacy in caregiving and depressive symptoms, interparental conflict and home chaos as predictors of pandemic-related perceived changes in parenting. A total of 1787 Turkish mothers of children aged 18 to 41 months completed an online survey. Correlational analysis revealed that higher levels of maternal education were associated with perceived increases in warm and punitive parenting, whereas child and mother age were associated with more perceived warm parenting only. After controlling for demographic characteristics, mothers were more likely to report perceived decrease in warmth and an increase in punitive parenting when they felt less efficacious in their caregiving role and when their household contained high levels of chaos. Maternal depressive symptoms emerged as an additional risk factor for mothers' perceived increase in punitive parenting, while high levels of child physical activity predicted perceived increase in warmth. The roles of child, caregiver, and family-contextual characteristics on the perceived changes in parenting during the stressful time of COVID-19 have been discussed with implications for interventions.

This study identified child, caregiver, and family characteristics that contributed to changes in caregiving for toddlers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Increases in perceived maternal warmth during the pandemic were predicted by active child temperament, high caregiving efficacy, and low home chaos.Increases in perceived punitive parenting during the pandemic were predicted by high maternal depression, low caregiving efficacy and high home chaos.Findings can help identify at-risk parents to strengthen their caregiving capacity and help children adapt to stressful conditions.