 Exploring the lived experiences of women with children during COVID-19: Maternal stress and coping mechanismsSaltanat Childress, Alison Roberts, Catherine A. LaBrenz, Erin Findley, Modesty Ekueku and Philip Baiden Children and Youth Services Review, 2023, vol. 145, issue C Abstract: This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of mothers’ lived experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United States. An analysis of open-ended interviews with 44 mothers who had children ages zero-to-five identified two main themes: (1) increased stress among mothers; and (2) resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. The findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to higher stress among mothers due to issues of work-family life balance, family and children’s needs, decision-making about getting sick, concerns for children's development, and lack of clarity from government officials. Mothers described using a variety of problem-focused and emotion-focused methods to cope with this stress. The lived experiences of mothers during the pandemic highlights the need for innovations in childcare modalities, paid leave policies to relieve stress, and strengthening whole family processes and resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Maternal stress; Coping mechanisms; Resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:145:y:2023:i:c:s019074092200411x DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106775 Access Statistics for this article Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier |
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