Maternal drinking, stress and use of aggressive parenting over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic had a demonstrated impact on parenting but little is known about how parental drinking, stress, and use of aggressive discipline (a parenting behavior associated with abusive parenting and negative outcomes for children) have changed over time. We examine rates of alcohol use, stress, and aggressive discipline at three time points during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigate what maternal, child, and time-varying factors predict weekly use of aggressive parenting.

METHODS

We use longitudinal data from the Central Ohio Family Study (COFLS), including women (n = 234) with a child between the ages of 0-12 and recruited via Facebook, Craigslist.org, and word of mouth. Participants completed an on-line survey for 3 consecutive years beginning in April-May 2020 and 1 and 2 years later. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to examine use of aggressive discipline at the three time points, controlling for time-varying, and maternal and child characteristics.

RESULTS

Past week use of aggressive discipline peaked in Wave 1 (35.9%) and decreased at Wave 2 (3.8%) and Wave 3 (28.2%; OR = .463; 95% CI: .369, .580). Parental stress (OR = 1.052; 95% CI: 1.010, 1.096), social isolation (OR = 1.412; 95% CI: 1.197, 1.668), social companionship (OR = 1.113; 95% CI: 1.007, 1.229), and frequency of drinking (OR = 1.049; 95% CI: 1.014, 1.085) were significantly related to higher odds of using aggressive discipline over the three waves.

CONCLUSIONS

Although rates of aggressive discipline declined, frequency of drinking and stress demonstrated a consistent pattern in relation to aggressive discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic.