a mixed blessing for folks’ health during COVID-19?

A study published in JAMA Network Open describes the impact of telework in the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the overall and mental health of oldsters and parenting stress.

Study: Teleworking, Parenting Stress, and the Health of Moms and Fathers. Image Credit: Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock.com

Background

Telework refers to a versatile working condition that permits employees to pursue their official work from an approved alternative workplace, similar to a house or telework center. A major rise in teleworking arrangements has occurred in the course of the most up-to-date COVID-19 pandemic due to pandemic-related restrictions on movement and physical proximity.

Evidence indicates that teleworking arrangements have many benefits, including shortening commuting time, flexible working hours, higher work-life balance, and better productivity.

Nonetheless, such arrangements seem to elongate working hours, intensify workload, and interfere with work-life balance, which may negatively impact employees’ overall physical and mental health.

As a singular worker subgroup, parents often experience difficulties balancing work and private life. Within the literature, not enough information is accessible to explain the impact of teleworking on the general health of oldsters.

A number of studies have indicated that teleworking increases stress levels amongst fathers and reduces happiness amongst moms.

On this study, scientists have investigated the association between telework in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and oldsters’ general health, mental health, and parenting stress.     

Study design

This cross-sectional survey was conducted between May and July 2022, involving all 77 neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois, a socio-demographically diverse urban center.

1,060 adult parents with a number of children living within the household responded to the survey. Amongst all respondents, 825 were currently employed and thus included in the ultimate evaluation.

The study included questions on parent’s telework frequency, general health, mental health, and parenting stress. As well as, details about demographic characteristics was collected from the respondents. Your complete survey was conducted online.

Essential observations

The evaluation of demographic characteristics revealed that amongst all employed parents, 52.5% were female, and 62.5% were utilizing telework facilities. Amongst teleworking parents, 45% were White, 14.6% were Black, and 28.5% were Hispanic.

Amongst on-site working parents, the bulk were Black (26%) and Hispanic (41.9%), followed by White (23.8%).

After adjustment for age, gender, race and ethnicity, and income, the evaluation revealed that teleworking parents have higher parenting stress than on-site working parents. Nonetheless, teleworking and on-site working parents observed no significant differences in the overall health status and improved mental health status.

The gender-wise evaluation revealed significantly higher self-reported parenting stress amongst teleworking fathers in comparison with that amongst on-site working fathers. Nonetheless, no such association was observed for moms.

Study significance

The study finds that teleworking parents experienced more parenting stress than on-site working parents in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, teleworking fathers reported higher parenting stress than on-site working fathers. Nonetheless, no impact of telework on parenting stress was observed for moms.   

Consistent with pre-pandemic studies, this survey couldn’t find any association between telework and overall health amongst currently employed parents.

As mentioned by the scientists, generalizability, and lack of objective health data are the restrictions of this study.

The survey was conducted in the course of the first two years of the pandemic, including 13 months of distant education in Chicago. Thus, teleworking parents had to administer work and education at home during this era, which is likely to be a possible reason for higher parenting stress.  

Overall, the survey findings highlight the necessity for implementing strategies to support teleworking parents, similar to promoting work schedule autonomy and worker assistance programs.

Such strategies can have significant health implications for each parents and youngsters. Before large-scale implementation of telework facilities, researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers should thoroughly assess the impact of telework on parent health and parenting stress.