Researchers from Carleton’s Sprott School of Business published a report in April about their investigation into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the well-being of working parents with dependent children.
Anita Grace, Linda Duxbury and Andre Lanctot began their study Work, Family, Life During a Pandemic at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The project partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s (CMHA) Ontario division and received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Mitacs and The Centre for Research on Inclusion at Work.
Grace, a lead postdoctoral researcher on the study, said Carleton’s report was the first of its kind.
“The pandemic hit, and I was curious how people were coping. I’m a single mom with two young kids, and I began my dissertation defence while trying to teach two classes,” said Grace. “It was overwhelming … I wondered how other parents were doing.”
The study focused on three mental health indicators: perceived stress, anxiety and depressed mood. Perceived stress and anxiety levels among parents were found to be higher than reported levels of depressed mood.
Levels of perceived stress and anxiety were also reported higher in parents with children aged 12 or younger.
Grace said these findings are no surprise, adding levels of anxiety and perceived stress remained consistently above moderate to high levels.
“It’s concerning because that’s a sustained level of stress and anxiety that people are carrying,” said Grace. “One of my participants said ‘stress and anxiety are constants now and that’s worrying.”
Grace and her team conducted weekly interviews with 70 participants for the first nine-week phase of their project, to gauge their mental health based upon the study’s three indicators. For the project’s second phase, approximately 54 participants remained for bi-monthly discussions.
By Dec. 21, the team had collected hundreds of interview transcripts from a combined 15 rounds of surveys. The researchers are now entering the third phase of their research with a sample of 40 participants to be interviewed every three weeks.
The study also examined the relationship between gender and well-being. The findings indicate women experienced slightly higher stress and anxiety levels than men in the fall and winter of 2020.
“Women are disproportionately affected with stress and anxiety in terms of the burden of childcare, job loss, the economic impacts of safety at home or increase of domestic violence, et cetera,” said Grace.
Trish Larwill, Carleton alumna and mother of four teenage boys, said managing her staff at Health Canada while managing a home is challenging.
“I’m in a very different place than I was 15 months ago, my toolbox has expanded,” said Larwill. “There was a steep learning curve for parents and kids in this new situation.”
Larwill said she was less anxious about her family members getting infected with COVID-19. Instead, she said the lack of structure, uncertainty and inability to plan when the virus first made headlines caused her the most stress and anxiety.
Larwill also said her eldest son was attending school in-person until it closed due to COVID-19, while his brothers studied remotely. She said the cancellation of his eighth-grade graduation ceremony impacted his mental health last spring, which impacted her well-being as a parent.
Premier Doug Ford announced on Wednesday schools across Ontario will remain closed until September.
“Stress can be positive and produce productivity, or it can be a distraction and reduce your ability to focus and to perform,” said Larwill.
Larwill also said her sleep routines, eating patterns, energy levels and guilt of not achieving enough during the pandemic have ebbed and flowed.
Grace said parents who feel stressed during the pandemic are not alone.
“What we’re being expected to do is beyond normal. It’s normal not to be a fantastic parent and fantastic employee at the same time in a global crisis,” she said.
Featured image provided by Carleton University.
