April Merriweather
Research Mentor(s): Alicia Carmichael
Research Mentor School/College/Department: ISR-RCGD
Presentation Date: 08/03/2022
Presentation Type: Poster
Poster Number: 15
Session: Session I: 12:30 – 1:20pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: April Merriweather, Alicia Carmichael, Natalie Leonard
Abstract
Research suggests that women handle the majority of childcare responsibilities in the home, even during the COVID-19 pandemic (Merriweather, unpublished). However, the relationship between gender, childcare responsibilities, and stress during the pandemic is not well understood. The current project, HARMONY, studied these family dynamics during and immediately after the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order (EO 2020-21) in Michigan.
The research question was divided into 2 parts. 1) Is parenting stress correlated with Parenting Daily Hassles (PDH) between co-parents? If so, how? 2) Does attunement on PDH moderate the relationship between PDH and stress? If so, how? We hypothesize that an increase in PDH reported by co-parents is correlated with an increase in their overall stress levels. Further, we hypothesize that low attunement will enhance the effect of PDH on overall stress such that less attuned couples will have higher stress even at lower levels of PDH. Participants were opposite-sex co-parent dyads of 2.5- to 3.5-year-old children who live together at least half the week (n = 115 dyads). Each member of a co-parent dyad completed a weekly survey from April 17, 2020 to June 26, 2020. Parenting Daily Hassles (PDH) were measured using the Parenting subscale of the PDH questionnaire, a 5-item subscale measuring frequency (1 [rarely] – 4 [constantly]) and intensity (1 [no hassle] – 5 [big hassle]). Attunement between co-parents on the PDH scale was measured by subtracting the male score from the female score of the parenting subscale. Overall stress levels were measured using a single item (0 [no stress] – 10 [extremely stressed]). Preliminary analysis suggests that there is a significant positive correlation between PDH and overall stress levels. Further, there is a significant positive correlation between overall stress levels and attunement on PDH between co-parents. The sex of the co-parent also predicted overall stress levels, with female co-parents predicting greater overall stress levels than male co-parents. However, no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that attunement moderates the relationship between PDH and stress. Unexpectedly, a significant interaction exists between sex and attunement on PDH to predict stress. These results suggest that when attunement is low and skewed towards the female co-parent reporting greater PDH, the male co-parent’s stress increases to match that of their female co-parent. Although these findings illustrate an interaction between co-parent sex, attunement on PDH, and overall stress levels, it is currently unclear whether sex or attunement moderates this relationship. Future research should consider alternative methods for analyzing and representing the relationship between attunement and stress.
