Parents and their children experienced less warmth during lockdown

During the lockdown in March and April, parents and their children were cooped up together in their homes. Monika Donker, youth research at Utrecht University, wondered what effect this form of co-existence had on the relationship between parents and their children. ‘We expected that spending more time together would lead to increased warmth and involvement between them, but young people actually reported less parental support during the lockdown.’ Donker’s research results have been posted on the Open Science Framework as a preprint.

Donker is involved in the INTRANSITION project being carried out by Utrecht University. Here, she is researching, among other things, the development of children’s identities as they make the transition from primary to secondary education. The first measurement round took place in autumn 2019, while the second measurement round followed in spring 2020. Since this coincided with the national lockdown, Donker and her colleagues Susan Branje and Stefanos Mastrotheodoros were able to analyse how this exceptional situation affected parent-child relationships.

Reduction in positive parenting

The study shows that in autumn 2019, before the lockdown, young people reported more parental support than during the lockdown. Parents in turn reported a corresponding reduction in ‘positive parenting’. Donker explains: ‘The term “positive parenting” means things like parents paying their child a compliment when it does something well, or talking to the child about its friends.’ So it would seem that parents too experienced their relationship with their children as being less warm and supportive during the lockdown.

Hassle and irritation

Donker points out that there is, of course, a degree of hassle and irritation between parents and children every day, all the more so if the children are going through puberty. Donker: ‘Normally speaking, adolescents can escape from hassle and irritation by going to school or sports activities, for instance, and parents can get away from the friction by working outside the home, but the lockdown meant that everyone was stuck at home and there was no escape. This clearly had an effect on the perceived warmth in the relationship between parents and children.’

Conflict issues such as homework, irritating behaviour and time spent on telephones and computers may have been avoided during interaction in an attempt to maintain a positive family atmosphere

Avoiding conflict issues

At the same time, the children reported a reduction in negative interactions between them and their parents. Negative interactions during adolescence usually involve daily annoyances and are thought to fulfil an important function in the development of a more equal relationship between parents and young people. ‘Negative interaction can result from conflict issues such as going out and spending time with friends. This social aspect disappeared during the lockdown. Other conflict issues such as homework, irritating behaviour and time spent on telephones and computers may have been avoided during interaction in an attempt to maintain a positive family atmosphere.’