Exploring the lived experiences of women with children during COVID-19: Maternal stress and coping mechanisms

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of mothers’ lived experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United States. An analysis of open-ended interviews with 44 mothers who had children ages zero-to-five identified two main themes: (1) increased stress among mothers; and (2) resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. The findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to higher stress among mothers due to issues of work-family life balance, family and children’s needs, decision-making about getting sick, concerns for children's development, and lack of clarity from government officials. Mothers described using a variety of problem-focused and emotion-focused methods to cope with this stress. The lived experiences of mothers during the pandemic highlights the need for innovations in childcare modalities, paid leave policies to relieve stress, and strengthening whole family processes and resilience through the use of coping mechanisms.

1. Introduction

The sudden onset of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) led to disruptions in parents' lives, while the rapid spread of the virus caused uncertainty and increased stress worldwide (Fong and Iarocci, 2020, Marchetti et al., 2020, Prime et al., 2020). Stay-at-home orders resulted in the temporary (and in some cases permanent) closure of schools, businesses, and daycares (Russell et al., 2020). While lockdowns and physical distancing effectively reduced the spread of COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic (Matrajt and Leung, 2020, Matrajt and Leung, 2020), these tactics may have negatively impacted the mental health of the general population (Golberstein et al., 2020, Golberstein et al., 2020, Xie et al., 2020).

Families, and in particular mothers, have experienced multi-layered stress due to the pandemic (Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir, 2020, Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir, 2020). For example, Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir, 2020, Hjálmsdóttir and Bjarnadóttir, 2020 found that the closure of almost all childcare facilities intensified the stress levels of mothers in Iceland, who had to take on the added responsibility of caring for their children during work hours. While some parents may have viewed quarantine as an opportunity to spend more time with their children, around one-third of parents with young children in the United States (U.S.) reported that childcare responsibilities were more challenging because of the pandemic (Pew Research Center, 2020, Pew Research Center, 2020). Working parents were perhaps the hardest hit as many were forced to work from home while simultaneously caring for their children. For context, as of 2021, at least one parent was employed in 89.1 % of U.S. families with children, up slightly from 2020 (88.5 %) but below the rate in 2019 (91.4 %) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Of married couples with children, 62.3 % had two working parents in 2021 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022).

In addition to the stress of work and childcare responsibilities, mothers also experienced the stress of limited social interaction and loneliness as a result of COVID-19 physical distancing efforts (Baiden et al., 2021, Marchetti et al., 2020). At home, both international and U.S. research indicated that mothers’ mental health was impacted by their children (Wei et al., 2022), and children’s adjustment was impacted by mothers’ mental health (Thompson et al., 2022). Not surprisingly, many studies found elevated rates of maternal depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic (Brown et al., 2020, Cameron et al., 2020, Feinberg et al., 2021a, Pierce et al., 2020). A meta-analysis of international studies published between January 2020 and March 2021 estimated that the prevalence of mothers of young children (under age 5) experiencing clinically significant anxiety symptoms was 41.9 % (95 % CI: 26.7–58.8) and depressive symptoms was 26.9 % (95 % CI: 21.3–33.4) (Racine et al., 2022). Some Korean mothers even reached a point of burnout as a result of contributing factors such as parenting stress, depression, and lack of spousal support (Seo and Kim, 2022, Seo and Kim, 2022). Maternal mental health challenges are an important area of consideration for the wellbeing of both a mother and her children as they have been linked to poor child outcomes, including in areas such as mother–child attachment and child development (Slomian et al., 2019, Waldrop et al., 2021).

With stress, anxiety, and depression on the rise in response to the challenges of COVID-19, families were forced to adapt and develop coping strategies. Coping strategies are actions or thought processes used by individuals to solve problems or minimize stress and tension (Sadri Damirchi, et al., 2020). Coping is a dynamic process and preferred coping mechanisms can vary across situations (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984, Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). Coping efforts may be problem-focused or emotion-focused (Rajaei et al, 2016). The function of problem-focused coping is to change the situation by acting on the environment, while the function of emotion-focused coping is to change either the way the stressful situation is attended to (e.g., avoidance) or the meaning to oneself of what is happening (reappraisal or reinterpretation) (Schoenmakers et al., 2015).

The ability to employ effective coping strategies has been necessary for the maintenance of mental health in the early days of the pandemic and as it has evolved over time. For example, research has shown that collaborating with family, sticking to a routine, spending time outside, maintaining hobbies, and seeking social support can reduce anxiety and depression during the pandemic (Fullana et al., 2020). Furthermore, exercising, meditating, and journaling are examples of emotion-focused coping strategies that individuals may have implemented to manage stress related to COVID-19. In short, studies evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on child and family outcomes have found that individuals have used a range of coping strategies and resilience mechanisms to help them manage the challenges associated with COVID-19 (Agbaria and Mokh, 2021, Fluharty and Fancourt, 2021, Fong and Iarocci, 2020, Thomson et al., 2022).

Though the worldwide circumstances are no longer those of early- to mid-2020, there is a need to reflect upon the stressors mothers have experienced during the pandemic and the specific ways in which they have demonstrated resilience during such trying times. Understanding the types of coping mechanisms people have utilized during the pandemic can provide useful insight into how COVID-19 has and may continue to affect mental health and family wellbeing. The current study contributes to this body of literature by gathering U.S. mothers’ personal accounts of their lived experiences with coping through the early pandemic stress of COVID-19.

2. Theoretical framework

This study draws on a synthesis of family stress, coping, and resilience perspectives (Allen and Henderson, 2017, Conger and Conger, 2008; Price et al., 2010, Walsh, 2016) and uses these theories as a way to inform the study’s epistemological perspective (i.e., to orient the research toward potential explanatory constructs and themes emerging in the interviews) as opposed to using these theories for pre-conceived ideas to test using the qualitative data. The integration of stress and resilience perspectives serves as an explanatory framework to understand how increased stress among mothers impact child and caregiver outcomes as they are related to their development and health.

According to Hutchison (2019), the family stress, coping, and resilience perspective describes a family’s adjustment after a stressful event. Within the family stress, coping, and resilience perspective, the ABC-X model of family stress and coping posits that events can turn into crises for families when they over-tax the family’s resources and perceptions of the event (Hill, 1949, McCubbin and Figley, 1983, McCubbin and Patterson, 1983). The model outlines three potential reactions families may have to stressors: recovery, maladaptation, and bonadaptation. In other words, in the aftermath of a stressful event, a family can return to its previous state, deteriorate, or improve. In the four weeks following the social distancing guidelines in the U.S., more than 22 million Americans lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic (Long, 2020). Considering the significant stress that many families are experiencing during the pandemic, the risk of heightened mental health difficulties and marital conflict is likely elevated, particularly among those who were already experiencing prepandemic financial, health or other chronic stressors (Karney et al, 2005). Already during the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened mental health difficulties heave been reported in the general public, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress (Qiu et al., 2020). Thus, the capacity to engage in effective problem-solving and emotion-based coping in the face of stressful events is crucial to protect family wellbeing and bonadaptation.

The family resilience perspective extends the family stress and coping perspective by seeking to identify and strengthen processes that allow families to “bear up under and rebound from distressing life experiences” (Hutchison, 2019, p. 314). From this perspective, distressed families are seen as challenged, not damaged, and they have the potential for repair and growth (Walsh, 2012, Walsh, 2016). Walsh defines resilience as “the capacity to rebound from adversity strengthened and more resourceful” (Walsh, 2016, p. 4). Guided by Walsh’s (2016) research on risk and resilience, family resilience is conceptualized by three overarching processes: (a) communication (clear information, emotional sharing, collaborative problem-solving, dyadic and family coping), (b) organization (adaptability, connectedness, and access to social and economic resources), and (c) belief systems (meaning-making, hope, and spirituality). These processes are considered to be disruptive or changed in many families in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. They can also serve as sources of resilience.

Recent models of resilience have focused on the role of structural factors or changes on a family’s ability to adapt (Ntontis et al., 2020) and proposed three strategies to build collective resilience among families during COVID-19 including (1) coming together as a community, (2) role modeling resilience, and (3) cultivating institutional trust (Glynn, 2020, Glynn, 2020). These models explore pathways of fostering collective meaning-making and efficacy through harnessing institution, community, and individual-level processes, such as unlocking, sharing, and embodying tangible and intangible resources and values to build solidarity, positivity, and hope during global pandemic or disaster. With these perspectives as background, we now turn to the methodology employed to explore the lived experiences of mothers with coping through the stress of the early pandemic.

3. Methods

Data for this study came from a mixed methods study that explored parental stress and resilience during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic among families in the U.S. Families of children ages zero-to-five were recruited via licensed childcare centers and social media and invited to complete monthly surveys between May and August 2020. The research team initially targeted licensed childcare centers across a large Southern state; however, due to closures of several centers because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors expanded recruitment to Facebook. We provided a flyer with information about the study and posted it on (n = 287) parenting groups nationwide. On the first survey, respondents were given the option to provide contact information if they were willing to participate in a one-hour semi-structured interview to explore their experiences in more depth. A total n = 523 parents completed the online survey (87.6 % female). Of these, n = 126 indicated interest in participating in a follow-up interview. Almost all (n = 123; 97.6 %) of the individuals who indicated interest in a follow-up interview identified as the child’s mother. The research team contacted all survey respondents who had provided contact information to invite them to participate in an interview. A total of n = 71 interviews were conducted; the research team utilized Zoom for all interviews. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription company. Prior to beginning all interviews, the research team read an informed consent and asked participants to verbally consent to the interview. All procedures were vetted and approved by the authors’ institution. For this current paper, the analytic sample consists of a total of n = 44 mothers who completed a semi-structured interview. The analysis of the data was discontinued at n = 44 when categories were saturated based on the coding of emerging themes (Saunders et al., 2018).

3.1. Participants

The analysis presented in this study is based on data from n = 44 interview participants. Table 1 displays the sociodemographic characteristics of the sample. Most of the participants resided in the South at the time of the interview, with the remaining participants split between the West, East, and Midwest. The racial/ethnic composition of the participants is as follows: n = 30 participants identified as non-Hispanic White, n = 4 participants identified as Hispanic, n = 4 participants identified as Multiracial, n = 3 participants identified as Black, and n = 3 participants did not respond to the question on race/ethnicity.

Table 1.

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants.

Interview	Age	Region	# of Children	Child Ages	Race/Ethnicity	Education	Employment Status	Income	Marital Status*
I1 (Chelsea)	35–44	South	2	6 months, 5	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$60,000-$79,999	Married (M)
I2 (Molly)	45+	South	2	3, 1	Multi-racial	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I3 (Megan)	45+	West	1	2	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I8	35–44	South	3	2, 2, 9	Hispanic	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (F)
I9 (Emily)	45+	South	3	2, 2, 9	Multi-racial	Bachelors degree	Stay at home parent	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I10	45+	East	2	2 months, 2	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,0000 and above	Married (M)
I11 (Taylor)	25–34	South	1	21 months	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$40,000-$59,999	Married (M)
I12 (Brittany)	45+	East	4	4 months, 2, 3, 9	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I13 (Sarah)	35–44	South	1	5 months	Non-Hispanic white	Some college	Stay at home parent	$60,000-$79,999	Married (M)
I14 (Nikki)	45+	South	3	5, 7, 15	Non-Hispanic white	Some college	Employed part-time	$60,000-$79,999	Married (M)
I15 (Christina)	45+	South	1	3	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I16 (Angie)	45+	South	4	4, 7, 11, 13	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed part-time	$40,000-$59,999	Married (M)
I17 (Danielle)	45+	East	2	5, 7	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I18 (Jasmine)	35–44	Midwest	1	16 months	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (F)
I19	45+	South	2	4, 8	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I21 (Natalie)	35–44	East	1	2	Multi-racial	Bachelors degree	Stay at home parent	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I22 (Tara)	35–44	South	2	1, 5	Non-Hispanic Black	Bachelors degree	Stay at home parent	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I23 (Courtney)	35–44	South	2	5, 8	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Self-Employed	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I25 (Jasmine)	35–44	South	1	16 months	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Stay at home parent	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I26 (Tiffany)	35–44	South	3	2, 5, 8	Hispanic	Some college	Employed full-time	$60,000-$79,999	Married (M)
I27 (Alicia)	35–44	South	1	3	Non-Hispanic Black	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$40,000-$59,999	Single (co-parents)
I20 (Gina)	45+	Midwest	1	10 months	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I24	45+	South	2	20 months, 5	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I28 (Crystal)	45+	Midwest	2	4, 7	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed part-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I29	35–44	South	2	8 months, 3	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Stay at home parent	$80,000	Married (M)
I30 (Leah)	35–44	East	2	4, 5	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000	Married (M)
I31 (Abby)	35–44	South	3	23 months, 23 months, 8	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000	Married (M)
I40	45+	South	5	5, 7, 8, 10, 15	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$40,000-$59,999	Married (M)
I42 (Hannah)	45+	South	1	20 months	Hispanic	Bachelors degree	Employed part-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I43a	N/A	N/A	2	5 & 2	N/A	N/A	Employed part-time	N/A	Married (M)
I43b
I44 (Stephanie)	35–44	South	4	2, 4, 5, 11	Hispanic	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$40,000-$59,999	Married (M)
I45	35–44	South	3	4 months, 3, 7	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$40,000-$59,999	Married (M)
I46 (Amber)	45+	South	3	8 months, 2, 5	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Self-employed	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I47	35–44	South	3	18 months, 4, 5	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed part-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I48 (Jocelyn)	35–44	South	1	2	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I49 (Rachel)	35–44	N/A	2	15 months, 2.5 yrs	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Married (M)
I50 (Katelyn)	25–34	South	1	3 months	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I51	45+	South	3	17 months, 6, 10	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I59	45+	East	1	5	Multi-racial	Bachelors degree	Self-employed	$80,000	Single
I61 (Haley)	35–44	South	3	3 months, 2, 17	Prefer not to answer	Some college	Stay at home parent	$40,000-$59,999	Married (M)
I62	35–44	South	3	2 months, 2 months, 4	Non-Hispanic white	Bachelors degree	Employed full-time	$80,000 and above	Married (M)
I63 (Erika)	45+	South	1	2	Non-Hispanic white	Advanced/professional degree	Employed full-time	$60,000-$79,999	Married (M)
I66	25–34	South	2	1, 5	Non-Hispanic Black	Some college	Employed full-time	$20,000-$39,999	Single

^*(M) stands for “married to a male” and (F) – for “married to a female.” Most participants were in heterosexual marriages; however, there were two in same-sex marriage.

3.2. Data analysis

All transcripts were de-identified. A team of three researchers coded the transcripts using a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). All interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using Nvivo12 Qualitative Computer Software. The “open coding” technique was used to identify the main concepts and categories using word-by-word analysis of the data. “Axial coding” was then used to further reassemble the data fractured during the initial coding procedure. The next step of the analysis involved developing themes and subthemes grounded in the data (Charmaz, 2006, Charmaz, 2006; Oktay, 2014, Oktay, 2014). Three researchers coded data separately and then compared and combined their codes to evaluate their fit and usefulness. When one team member came up with different codes than other members, differences among team mebers were resolved during peer-debriefing process with the whole team to establish agreement between coders (Charmaz, 2006, Charmaz, 2006; Oktay, 2014, Oktay, 2014). To ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, data analysis was enhanced through analytic triangulation, peer-debriefing, and the provision of examples of raw data in the presentation of findings (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, Lincoln and Guba, 1985). To maintain the confidentiality of participants, their real names were replaced with pseudonyms.

3.3. Positionality

Author 1 is an Asian, cisgender, married tenure track faculty member at a large public University. She is a mother of three and was navigating parenting her 10 and 12-year-old when the first COVID-19 social distancing requirements were put in place in 2020.

Author 2 Author 2 is a White, cisgender Masters in Social Work graduate. She has professional experience in peer relationships in childhood and the post-pandemic effects on children’s social-emotional development.

Author 3 is a White, cisgender, married tenure track faculty member at a large public university. She became a mother during her graduate studies and was navigating childcare closures with her 2-year-old when the first COVID-19 restrictions hit in 2020.

Author 4 is a White, cisgender staff member at a large public university. She has professional experience in child welfare and was completing her doctoral education during the pandemic.

Author 5 is an African, female Masters in Social Work graduate. She has professional experience with child welfare and the challenges of caregiving during a pandemic.

Author 6 is a Black married male with three children. He has expertise in survey design, scale development, and quantitative data analysis.

4. Findings

After the research team implemented the coding, analysis, and enhancement procedures, two main themes emerged from the interview transcripts:

(1) Increased stress among mothers. This theme contains four subthemes: 1) navigating challenges of work-family life balance, 2) navigating decisions about safety and health, 3) worrying about children's development and health, and 4) experiencing uncertainty and lack of clarity about safety measures.

(2) Resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. This theme contains two subthemes: problem-focused mechanisms and emotion-focused mechanisms.

4.1. Increased stress among mothers

The first theme that emerged from the interviews was that pandemic-related stress had a negative effect on the mental health and quality of life of mothers. The combination of staying home, being responsible for their children “24/7” placed many mothers in a new and difficult position. The interviews revealed that mothers were dealing with a wide range of emotions including feelings of depression, feelings of being punished, and feelings of being trapped. Tiffany, a mother to three children, ages three, five, and eight, recounted the emotional difficulties the pandemic had generated:

I felt like I was grounded… very restricted. Constantly watching the news to see what was going on and hearing that every day things were changing and [the] uncertainty of still not knowing what's happening… I've gone through a wide range of emotions since March of just feeling depressed and not accepting it. And then there's just waves of emotions because you don't know what's going to happen.

Jasmine, who had a sixteen-month-old, said that the stress of pandemic restrictions left her feeling, “kind of trapped, like being stuck at home, not being able to do things out of the house, not even being able to take the baby shopping.”

The interviews revealed that living in a pandemic was producing emotional distress, including feelings of anxiety and loneliness, among mothers. For example, Emily, mother to two-year-old twins and a nine-year-old, explained that COVID-19 had exacerbated her pre-existing anxiety disorder: “I have anxiety disorder, so I'm just a person who's stressed out a lot, but it's [the anxiety] definitely gone up.” Katelyn, who had a three-month-old baby, commented, “We weren't able to have the random people pop by with casseroles or to come snuggle the newborn. So, it got really lonely.” In other cases, COVID-19 led mothers to experience stress due to the disruption of their regular routine. Tara, mother to a one-year-old and a five-year-old, explained, “And now it's like, we don't have to get up and get dressed if we don't want to, and it's easy for me to fall out of sync with myself and the life that I had before… And that just drives up my stress.”

Mothers also expressed feelings of being overwhelmed and overworked. Rachel, who had a fifteen-month-old baby and a two-year-old, offered a typical description of mothers’ feelings of exhaustion, “Just the fact that they [the children] depend on us and there's no break. There's zero sense of, I can stop and get my needs met. My needs don't really matter anymore is what it feels like right now.” The following discussion summarizes and highlights mothers’ descriptions of the stress they experienced.

4.1.1. Navigating challenges of work-family life balance

The interviews revealed that mothers are struggling to keep up with their jobs as well as housework. Even though some of these mothers work full time, they are still having to take on a majority of childcare such as Alicia who has a 3-year-old: “I've been working from home and having a toddler pretty much full time cause his dad works evenings and majority of the day. So, he's pretty much with me.” Other mothers such as Molly, who has a one-year-old and three-year-old, commented on being stressed because of the changing work environment and the inability to now separate work from home:

It's stressful because I'm home all the time. My kids get to go to daycare when it's available, but I can't go anywhere. So, when I'm home all the time, I have the stressors of home and work at the same place, and I can't separate the two like I would if I could go into my office… So, I feel like a little bit of work stress is infiltrating because I'm always on call, so, it's hard to compartmentalize the two, when your work and home are occupying the same space.

Participant Tiffany, who has a two-year-old, five-year-old and eight-year-old, shared similar struggles adapting to her work and family life melding into one space:

I'm doing a full-time job, plus during active COVID time I was doing second grade, attempting to do pre-K and then the one-year-old. It was a huge adjustment at first, because I [used to] have quiet time while working, there's no distractions or anything like that. So, definitely, the first couple of weeks I was like “What am I doing here?”

This combining of work and home life made it more challenging for mothers to complete their work duties because the distractions and stressors at home were now in their workspace. Without the separation of work and home, the mothers experienced elevated pressure and stress.

The mothers expressed that the presence of all family members in the home at all times created more stress, with children demanding attention and mothers having little to no respite from family demands. As a result, the mothers faced burnout and mental exhaustion and had little time to rest, rejuvenate, or care for themselves. Jocelyn, who had a two-year-old, described a typical scenario:

Then it just became this grind where there were more and more pressures. There never seemed to be enough time to even just do day-to-day things because when there’s three people home all the time, there’s a lot more housework, there’s less structure to the day, there’s less chances to just kind of escape. And my daughter has been at this stage where she just [wants] to be on you all the time or demanding something from you or want[s] you to engage in the game that she wants to play. And it’s mentally just exhausting—to never have time and space to just sit and be quiet and recoup has really taken a toll.

In addition to dealing with the challenges of working and taking care of their children, parents faced the added stressor of changing work schedules. Sarah describes experiencing a loss of identity after transitioning away from a full-time career and becoming a full-time parent to a five-month-old, “The missing adult interaction and things like that, I think that’s something every-one struggles with when they have kids and their position in the household changes from like a co-financial provider to be a primary caregiver for a little person.” Nikki explains her stress of losing opportunities for self-care and not getting any breaks away from her five-year-old, seven-year-old, and fifteen-year-old because she is no longer going into work:

“Me not being able to work impacts my own self-care. I don’t really get a break, I’m kind of stressed out… Just that we’re all stuck with each other and can’t get breaks.”

The lack of childcare was another stressor in this subtheme. With the closure of schools and daycares, parents found “24/7” (i.e., all day, every day) parenting to be an overwhelming challenge. Working mothers, especially, felt they were drowning in the dual responsibilities of taking care of their children and completing work-related tasks. Many participants said they needed some type of childcare or activities to keep their children entertained and relieve stress. For example, Abby, a mother to two-year-old twins and an eight-year-old, stated that lack of childcare was her biggest source of stress:

It’d probably be the childcare piece. If I could just get a magical nanny to come and just be, you know, a full-time nanny for our family, I wouldn’t have to worry so much about, “Oh, is daycare going to close this week? Is there going to be an outbreak at camp, and it’s going to shut down for the rest of the summer?” Like that’s always, as a working parent, that’s something always in the back of your mind, like—am I going to get a call today that someone has a fever when I’m in the meeting, in the middle of the meeting with patients?

Megan, who had a two-year-old child, also discussed her need for childcare at length:

There were no provisions for younger kids. We were told just to contact your usual childcare provider, and they were almost all basically closed. So, that’s a real problem. Like, I don’t know what my nurse colleagues are doing with their little kids, I have no idea. So, more childcare available for essential workers I think would be really important.

Gina highlighted the logistical difficulties of working and caring for her ten-month-old baby in the same space:

We weren’t really set up to work from home. We had to come up with spaces where we could both work, systems where we could both care for our child. And just like the kind of massive social changes that went on and basically going from having a network to how do we care for a kid 24/7 and work 60-hour-a-week jobs?

Finally, Leah, who had two children, ages four and five, summed up mothers’ needs succinctly when she concluded, “I think that we need childcare. We need childcare. Face-to-face childcare. Yeah.”.

4.1.2. Navigating decisions about safety and health

In addition to experiencing increased emotional stress, mothers were internalizing their concerns for the health and safety of their families and children. Mothers reported experiencing increased stress and worry due to their concerns about their family’s well-being. For example, Molly reported worrying about her one-year-old and three-year-old being exposed to coronavirus:

But now I'm just very cautious because so many people are exposed to it, and I don't want to inadvertently expose my children to something if I can avoid it. So, I'm kind of feeling like—Am I a little more stressed than usual? Yes. Will this end one day? Yes. It's temporary, but I'm trying to make the best of it, especially for my kids.

These mothers emphasized their worries and the responsibility of undertaking the mental planning to decrease the risk of their family members, especially their children, being exposed to and contracting the virus. Tara, who had two children, ages one and five, described the toll taken by this emotional labor, “So there's a lot of guilt. Cause I feel a certain social responsibility to keep, not only my family safe, but to the greatest extent possible [keep] everybody that I can safe.”

Further, mothers who were already dealing with the stress of having a child with medical problems had become even more worried due to COVID-19. Emily, a mother of two-year-old twins and a nine-year-old, described how her daughter’s prior medical condition added to the stress of the pandemic, “She's been having absence seizures… they start to kind of set off when she gets sick, gets a fever. So that's another reason why we've been kind of really locked down. So that's another concern is her getting sick.” Nikki, a mother of three children, ages five, seven, and fifteen, mentioned experiencing stress for similar reasons. She explained, “My daughter having complex needs, one of her medications lowers her immune system. So that's stressful.”.

Another element of stress associated with families and children that the mothers discussed was the challenge of navigating decisions about safety and health, and the difficulty of choosing between important social activities for their children. The participants felt burdened by these choices and felt they lacked the qualifications to make these decisions. For example, Courtney worried about the responsibility of deciding whether her five-year-old and eight-year-old should return to school if their district re-opened. She felt it was nearly impossible to make informed choices for her children:

I keep feeling like even if there is the option of my children going to school, do I even want them to if the number of community spread is as high as it is right now?

I almost feel like I'm having to make this almost impossible decision of like, I know how good the socialization and the experiences and all of that are and just being taught by someone who knows what they're doing, but then at the same time, if I choose to pull them from school and do it at home, I don't know. I just, I don't know what the right way is.

Emily, mother to two-year-old twins and a nine-year-old, felt that even after she made a decision, her stress level would likely remain high, noting, “Even if she goes back to school, I think that will be stressful too. Cause then we'll be constantly worried about her getting sick and whatnot.”

Erika, mother to a two-year-old girl, offered a typical characterization of the difficulties involved in making decisions about returning to school or daycare:

I mean, school's about to start back. So, we kind of needed to figure out how to reintroduce her. Cause we felt like the choice was we could try to find some sort of daycare or Montessori type situation. But if we did that, then that could potentially introduce another layer of exposure.

Danielle, who had two children, ages five and seven, said that she fully expected these weighty decisions would fall on mothers, whom she believed would be solely responsible for the health and wellbeing of their children. She noted that this unbalanced expectation is a societal problem, rather than a family or individual problem:

We need to rethink how we work as a society. Like so much of this burden is going to be pushed to women to handle with no guidance at all in place about like, okay, let's recognize that this is unfair to parents.

The interviews showed that mothers are experiencing added stress from COVID-19 because they feel they hold the main responsibility for the health and safety of their children and families.

4.1.3. Worrying about children’s development and health

The mothers also reported that their concern about their children’s development during quarantine was causing stress. The COVID-19 pandemic caused extensive disruptions of social events and schools in the spring of 2020 as it forced school buildings to close and activities and events canceled. These suspensions and cancellations have impacted students across the U.S., and many parents are concerned for their children’s academic and social growth. In the interviews, mothers said they were worried that their children were not receiving the academic stimulation they needed and would fall behind in their studies. For example, Courtney expressed uncertainty about her teaching skills, commenting, “And not to mention like the academics, I mean, I'm doing what I can, but I have no idea how my teaching stacks up to what she would actually be receiving in school. So I could see that maybe in some ways setting them back.” Other mothers also described being worried about their children’s academic development, even if their children did not attend school yet. Megan, whose daughter was only two, felt pressure to provide a stimulating learning environment:

I was also stressed over being sure whether I was providing my daughter with the educational experience that she gets at school with her teachers who have a lot of experience and have a curriculum and activities compared to mom who is making stuff up. So those are probably our main sources of stress.

Amber, whose children were eight months, two, and five, described similar worries:

A lot of families who don't have a teacher in their family aren't used to that stuff. So, I know we have friends that are concerned about their kids' education. So, I think that's going to be a huge issue that, once everybody goes back, all these kids are going to be all over the place in terms of where they are in their learning.

In addition, the mothers were concerned that their children were not receiving the socialization they needed for healthy development. Jasmine said stress about her sixteen-month-old daughter’s socialization was always in the back of her and her husband’s minds. She recounted,

She's not been able to play with other kids; she's not been able to see other adults other than our nanny. So that's also been, I think, not necessarily like a direct stress, but kind of like a, a background stress about like, are we doing all we can to keep her as okay as she can be?

The mothers described worrying about their children’s social lives and learning things such as social cues and how to make friends. Sarah, whose daughter was five months old, said she had noticed a change in her daughter’s behavior—her daughter had become fearful of being around people besides Sarah and her husband. Sarah recalled, “We had to go to the bank the other day, and the banker didn't even look at her, but she started screaming because he was somebody other than me or her dad. So, I'm worried about her socialization.” Nikki, whose children were five, seven, and fifteen, was particularly worried about the social skills of her youngest child. When asked about her worries, she commented,

Socialization, I think, is probably the big one because that's such a big part of those first five years… because he isn't able to go socialize with other people. The way he acts with his brother is not going to be acceptable at school. You can't push somebody over every time. He doesn't get his way. So not being able to go play with other kids and learn how to properly [behave] outside of his house is a big issue.

Courtney expressed similar concerns about her five-year-old and eight-year-old missing out on socialization during a particularly important stage of life:

The main concern that I have is just that feeling of that they've missed out on a whole half a year. And who knows if it's even more of school. Like socialization, my oldest daughter hasn't seen any of her school friends basically since this started. And I feel like it's such an important time in life of just like figuring out how friendships work and things like that.

This sentiment was echoed by Abby, who worried that her children’s social skills might decline during quarantine:

So, worrying about routine and their development because you're not out and about doing the normal things that you would typically do with them. They're not seeing friends, they're not seeing family… I worry that if this goes on for longer, that it could have some effects on her development and socialization, and I just wonder what it'll be like after a year if we do go to the trampoline park and she'll be like, “What? What? There's too many people, I'm overwhelmed!”

4.1.4. Experiencing uncertainty and lack of clarity about safety measures

Another major stressor mothers experienced due to the coronavirus was uncertainty and lack of clarity from the government regarding safety and health. Many of the mothers said it was unhelpful and even damaging that officials and experts could not agree on what safety measures were required; unclear safety guidelines compounded stress. For example, Megan, who had a two-year-old, described being very confused about the current guidelines:

I'm not honestly sure what is going on. I'm pretty sure we're still supposed to be staying at home as much as possible. But I think regulations have been lifted in such a piecemeal and confusing way that I don't know what the rules are.

Courtney, whose children were five and eight, said, “There's so many different opinions and different things that, you know, experts are saying one way and the other, and that just stresses me out.” She continued, explaining that she did not trust officials to make decisions for the overall health and well-being of the community:

The biggest thing for me that has been concerning with policies is that I feel that sometimes they're making decisions that aren't based off of the current situation of how the disease is progressing and stuff like that. They're making decisions more for the economy and things like that. And that's where it just gets very confusing and complex. Sometimes I don't feel real trustful about what their decisions are in terms of being the best thing for the overall health of the community. Sometimes I wonder if there's hidden agendas and motives that I don't approve of.

Katelyn, mother to a three-month-old, noted that persistent changes in regulations were worrisome. She noticed local businesses closing because of the shutdown and said that shifting decisions about opening and closing businesses were making things worse:

I think there's also the, like, yes, this virus is devastating, and people are dying. But people's livelihoods are also being significantly impacted, and they're dying in different ways by closing the economy. And we see when we go for drives around town to get out of the house that more and more local businesses shutting down every day and people losing everything they've worked for because of the mandates that we have from the governor in the state. Like some of our good friends are bar owners in town, and they can't operate; they just need to decide to shut it down. Like the back and forth makes it worse… I think that that's an area that could use a lot of the grants or loans that are going out, because like I said, our daycare had to shut down. I honestly think that some of the regulations are just far too extreme for like what can be done. And I think that they are that way to keep people from being open or from being able to do things. So yeah, I think people either need to just live their lives or shut down, shut down things.

Like Katelyn, Alicia, mother to a three-year-old, felt that shifting back and forth was particularly problematic and stressful. She summed up her opinion on changing guidelines as follows:

I guess I would want them [policymakers] to know that they need to think about like the openings and all these things, because it's not so much the opening, it's the back and forth. It's the, oh one moment Texas has opened, fully fledged, ready to go, just do this. And then the next moment we're shut down. They need to really think about things because it really affects parents going back to work or not going back to work, or childcare and just really think ahead, like, what does it look like for the future.

Many of the participants expressed frustration with policymakers and the lack of consistent and coherent guidelines. Crystal complained, “Every-one has their own set of rules and guidelines that each family is following, which makes it difficult. There's no overall like this is what you should do, so everyone's doing this.” Taylor, mother to a 21-month-old, also lamented about the lack of clear and consistent guidelines:

Everybody's doing something different, and I get people have their freedom. I tell my students all the time, ‘if everybody was the exact same, the world would be boring,’ but to have a little bit more guidelines on what we need to do to be on the same page, when you're getting conflicting information from big sources, too.

The interviews showed that insufficient clarity from officials was leading to a lack of trust between friends and neighbors, and uncertainty for mothers and their communities. Jocelyn, whose child was two years old, described how the inconsistent guidance created uncertainty as she made decisions about whom her children should interact with:

We're getting such different information from everywhere. It's very difficult to know. I mean, my family, we can make our own decision, right? We know which leaders, which information we trust, but because there's such a diversity of views and a diversity of information and guidelines out there, or lack of guidelines, it's really hard to trust that other families that we might want to interact with are getting the same information as us and could be kind of trusted to be following similar guidelines or actions in terms of their safety. So yeah, just like clarity of leadership on the public health front would make such an enormous difference.

4.2. Resilience through the use of coping mechanisms

The second main theme to emerge from the mothers’ narratives is that of coping mechanisms. In their interviews, the mothers demonstrated resilience and creativity in the ways they were coping during COVID-19, including staying active, utilizing technology, and seeking support from others. Some women used problem-focused coping strategies, and others used emotion-focused coping strategies. Most mothers reported using a combination of both types.

4.2.1. Problem-focused coping strategies

The main problem-focused coping strategy used by mothers was seeking social and familial support. The participants reported that they sought social contact with friends and family in safe ways, namely online and outside. Haley, mother of a three-month-old, a two-year-old, and a seventeen-year-old, managed her stress by having outdoor get-togethers with friends, “Thankfully, I have a good group of friends that gets together, we just take our kids to play at the creek; we're always outside. So that has been really a huge stress reliever for me, because I need person-to-person contact.” Alicia, who had a three-year-old child, also found support by connecting with family and friends. She commented, “My family and friends have actually been super supportive. Just FaceTime calls and a lot of friends will call me and things like that.”

Some mothers said they coped by having family members help with childcare, either in person or through online video chatting. For example, Tiffany, who had three children ages two, five, and eight, said, “My mother-in-law would watch my two-year-old. They're all pretty much, usually, in the same room. She is either dancing or Face Timing someone during the day.” Courtney also relied on grandparents for help. She explained,

My parents have taken the girls two days a week this summer, just in the afternoon time, she's calling it a “grandma camp.” And so that has been a great resource for us in the sense of it giving me a little bit of time, because I think part of it is I like never get any time to myself.

Other mothers relied on a variety of relatives and friends for help with childcare. Chelsea, mother to a six-month-old and a five-year-old, used this approach:

I've set up video chats with different friends or relatives with my son and just kind of let them talk where I'm not there and I'm not necessarily like shepherding the conversation, but just being like, “Here's Tia, she wants to talk to you,” and letting him get that like one-on-one interaction.

Some mothers described forming “bubbles” or “quaranteams” (i.e., small groups that share face-to-face contact) with other families or friends so they could maintain some level of social interaction. For example, Angie, who had four children, ages four to thirteen, said, “We have had a couple of play dates or get-togethers with other families we know very well that are also being very careful in quarantining. That is super helpful.” Similarly, Katelyn, a mother to a three-month-old baby, described coping by getting together with only a few families: “We've got a couple of families who have been in our like bubble, who we know where we've been, they know where they've been, where we're in each other's bubbles or ‘quaranteam.’” Danielle, who had a five-year-old and a seven-year-old, used the same strategy but took a somewhat more structured approach:

We've now formed a bubble with them where we swap kids every morning for five hours. So, from nine to two, that's where they are right now. Then tomorrow they'll be back over here from nine to two, and that has changed I think everybody's world for the better. Cause I get to be by myself, the girls have someone new to play with, and their six-year-old is so much happier to have other girls to talk to. So that's been a really critical step forward in everybody's mental health.

In addition to finding support through family and friends, many mothers found solace in online communities. A few described belonging to Facebook groups through which they could seek support and advice from other mothers and parents experiencing similar challenges. The sense of community and feelings of solidarity in these groups helped these mothers cope. For example, Tara, who had a one-year-old and a five-year-old, said, “Mostly, I would say Facebook. I'm on this group, it's Facebook [North Texas city] Moms Talk and [North Texas city] Charities just trying to find little resources here and there.” Nikki, whose children were five, seven, and fifteen, also found support via Facebook, both by keeping in touch with friends and by participating in groups that focused on the unique challenges of raising a special needs child. She explained,

Probably staying connected with my friends on Facebook. I have a lot of different groups, some that are just friend groups for parents with kids with special needs, and being able to talk to people that understand specific parts of your situation is helpful.

Brittany, who had four children, ages four months, two, three, and nine, joined a Facebook group specifically aimed at connecting parents during the pandemic. She commented, “I’m part of this group on Facebook called Parenting Under Quarantine, and every-one seems to have the same stress and same issues, and trying to keep to a schedule and the kids entertained.” Danielle created her own Facebook group for parents, which was a source of support for her as she parented her five-year-old and seven-year-old during the pandemic:

I thought it [Facebook group] would just be some local friends and then maybe some friends from high school, and now it's over 4,400 people worldwide. And so, it just became like this, and I really enjoy running that group. I have learned so much from that group.

Participants reported that, in addition to parenting groups, many other informal or formal communities were providing helpful resources. The study participants described their friends, neighbors, and local religious organizations providing activities to keep children engaged and offering food for those who needed it. Angie referenced a local nonprofit that helped those needing food:

I have a friend that runs a nonprofit, a group called Love Packs that collects food. And their primary goal is for when there are three-day weekends and things like spring break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, they provide food boxes for those kids that may otherwise not have food over that weekend or that break. And they, boy, they had to step it up and they were providing big food boxes every week during, until school was out.

Rachel, mother to two children under the age of three, described finding activities to do with her children in online posts from the local Jewish community: “We're Jewish, and there is a great Jewish community here in [large Texas city], and they have been posting a lot of really helpful family resources. Like every day they post, ‘Here's an activity to do with your kids.’” Erika also found ideas for new activities to do with her child through her local community. She explained,

There's a mom who lives in our neighborhood who has a little free library and got up on it this summer and made her own summer reading program, got donations for books and had weekly things going. There was a different craft every Monday with the supplies for free… thank God, we're lucky that this mom does that and the other parents are supporting her.

Natalie, mother to a two-year-old, noted that her local community center was offering both resources for children’s activities and information for parents:

We have a community through the Jewish community center that I was already part of. It's basically just families with young children in the area. And so, they've been doing things online like parental seminars, ones related to COVID and one's just in general related to parenting and they'd been doing story times, arts and stuff.

4.2.2. Emotion-focused coping strategies

The mothers also described using emotion-focused coping (i.e., self-directed physical, ideational, and spiritual activity) strategies. One important emotion-focused coping strategy the participants used was physical activity. Interviewees reported going on walks, playing, exercising, or simply getting out of the house.

Mothers felt like they were trapped inside and emphasized that getting outside was an important coping strategy for maintaining their mental well-being. Chelsea, whose children were six months old and five years old, said:

[We blow] the super bubbles and little bubbles and all these bubbles. And it has been the most relaxing, fun way to interact because it's not messy. I don't have to set up a bunch of stuff. We just go out there and blow bubbles.

Christina also described using outdoor activities to cope, explaining, “We've tried to incorporate physical activity and get her out of the house during those times when each of us might be managing our work-related stress.” Haley adopted a similar strategy in response to the pandemic-related restriction of her family’s regular activities, “We have tried to really get outside, and we tend to be outdoors people anyways, but we've been really trying to do even more outside than we were before because there's not many options for other things to do.” Stephanie, mother to four children ages two through eleven, commented, “We started doing more walks outside and spending some time outside before the summer really started just to get out of the house and get some fresh air. So that helped with the stress.” Spending time outside of the house was also very important to Chelsea as she cared for her six-month-old and five-year-old during quarantine; she explained, “That's been really great, just reminding ourselves that we don't have to do all of the things inside our house all the time. Even just picking up food feels like an adventure.”.

Other mothers focused on exercise they could do at home. Rachel, mother to two-month-old twins and a four-year-old, used the family’s home gym equipment to cope:

We have a Peloton at home and that has been huge for both me and my husband, and we’ve had it for a while, but we've definitely both been using it more. And that's become really a habit for both of us that is sort of our self-care.

Hannah, who had a twenty-month-old, also relieved stress by using exercise equipment at home; she reported, “I go on the row machine for five or 10 min. And that makes the world of a difference.”.

Another important emotion-focused coping mechanism that the mothers described was cultivating a change in perspective. They reported intentionally trying to look on the bright side of this situation. Danielle, whose children were five and seven, developed a new appreciation for her family’s everyday social interactions:

I think it'll make me appreciate so many things so much more. Just the ability. Like we have a group of friends who we would see every Sunday for dinner, and we rotate houses as to who hosts that, that has been a huge loss: not sitting at their table, not having them in our house, we took that for granted. We took being able to get on an airplane and see grandparents for a weekend for granted. All of that I think will affect me going forward. And I really hope that that sticks with me.

These participants said they made a choice to focus on the positives, such as having more quality family time, and to cherish little things more. Katelyn mentioned the benefit of spending extra time with her three-month-old son: “Like I could not imagine having a baby not being in quarantine or isolation. The amount of extra time that we've both gotten to be at home with him is so awesome.” Tiffany also focused on the opportunity to spend extra time with her children: “I have to tell myself, ‘Like, when am I going to get this much time with them ever again? Besides maternity leave? I think this has helped me a lot, too.” Alicia, a mother to a three-year-old, described slowing down as a silver lining of quarantine; she said,

COVID has just really taught me to just kind of like take it a day at a time and just slow down and just kind of enjoy, I mean like all the negatives that have impacted through COVID, there have been a little bit of positive things.

Some mothers expressed that the experience of quarantine led them to reconsider work-family balance. For example, Megan, whose daughter was two, recounted,

One thing that's been really positive about this has been showing my husband and me that a better work-life balance is possible. I was very sad to send my daughter back to daycare because I was really enjoying my five hours in the morning with her and planning activities and doing things and relaxing together and getting to know her personality in more detail.

Katelyn offered a similar assessment and hoped it would lead to permanent changes:

I hope that people operate in a different way going into the future. I think we've been able to have more family time and we've been able to slow down, and I hope that like that flexibility remains. And I hope that people are really able to remember what's important and what's not important.

5. Discussion

The objective of this study is to use the narratives of mothers with young children in the U.S. to explore their lived experiences with coping and resilience through the early pandemic stress of COVID-19. The study identified two main themes: (1) increased stress among mothers and (2) resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. The results of this study show that mothers experienced significant amounts of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders in the U.S. due to challenges of navigating work-family life balance, navigating decisions about safety and health, worrying about children's development and health, and experiencing uncertainty and lack of clarity about safety measures. The results also highlight a variety of strategies mothers used to cope. These results confirm other evidence that found that mothers experienced significant stress during the pandemic (Boca et al., 2020, Marchetti et al., 2020). The results reinforce the findings of prior studies that have shown the pandemic-specific factors (social disruptions such as financial insecurity, caregiving burden, and confinement-related stress) increase parents’ stress and undermine the quality of relationships among family members, which in turn have implications for children’s and adolescents’ wellbeing (Prime et al, 2020).

The mothers in the study spoke about their stress related to worries about their children’s health and development. A recent review of empirical evidence on the impact of pandemic on child development from a life course perspective (i.e., intertwined developmental trajectories, linked lives, and stratification systems) purport that children and adolescents are at a significant developmental risk due to disruptions to their proximal contexts and daily lives, and that attention should be paid to developmental timing and unfolding developmental trajectories following this global pandemic, as well as to the factors that protect or exacerbate the pandemic’s detrimental effects (Benner and Mistry, 2020, Benner and Mistry, 2020). The short-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are already evident—the mothers in the study reported noticing behavioral changes in their children. The increased demands on parental resources and the effects of extended isolation could become a breeding ground for coercive cycles in parent–child interactions leading to escalating negativity and weakened relationships, and poor child psychosocial adjustment (Patterson, 2016, Patterson et al., 2016).

Recent literature has found stress related to child stimulation and development among mothers who assumed a more active childcare role during the first months of the pandemic (Findley et al., 2022). While we did not directly compare characteristics of mothers and reported stress and coping, it is worth noting that there appeared to be different stressors for mothers of infants compared to preschool-age children; more than the number of children in the household, some differences emerged in what situations were stressful based on the child’s development. For example, themes of worrying about contact with people outside of the immediate family emerged more in interviews with mothers of infants. In contrast, mothers of preschoolers and/or who also had school-age children tended to focus more on the stress of remote preschool or k-12 schooling. In addition, mothers reported more concerns about changes in child behavior among children in the older range of our study (e.g., 2–5 year-olds).

It is important to note that this sample has a significantly higher income than the general U.S. population. Mothers with low-income may experience more vulnerability to the sequelae of the pandemic due to pre-existing economic hardship. Low-income mothers faced additional stressors during the pandemic such as food insecurity due to higher prices, not being able to work, unpredictable stock at grocery stores, and lack of school provided lunches (Elliot et al., 2021; Masonrink & Hurley, 2020). Further, low income mothers and rural residents are more likely to experience physical and mental health problems such as obesity, high-blood pressure, substance use disorders, anxiety, and depression, which are exacerbated by the pandemic (Sano and Mammen, 2022, Sano and Mammen, 2022). Providing more support from the government and social services in the form of financial assistance for food, housing, medical care, bills, and technology-based mental health services and educational support could be critical to meet basic needs of low-income families and relieve material hardship (Fong and Iarocci, 2020, Masten et al., 2021).

The finding that mothers are struggling to fulfill both work and childcare tasks supports prior research showing that working parents urgently need help with childcare during the pandemic. A national survey found that 43 % of those working remotely and 49 % of those working in-person said they needed childcare (Bipartisan Policy Center Nationwide Survey, 2020). According to our data, a lack of childcare is causing many mothers to feel overwhelmed and exhausted as they seek to address the constant needs of their children. Participants in the current study reported running low on energy and experiencing a high level of stress related to parenting 24/7. This pattern supports prior findings from a study by Griffith (2020), which found that parents are experiencing burnout due to the lack of childcare, physical social support, and breaks from home. Providing more support to working parents in the form of paid leave could potentially ameliorate this pattern.

The mothers’ narratives reveal that adaptive coping mechanisms are crucial for the maintenance of psychological wellbeing during the pandemic. The analysis sheds light on many of the problem-focused and emotion-focused coping mechanisms used by mothers. The most common adaptive coping mechanisms reported by mothers are seeking support from family, friends, and the local community, having a positive outlook, and staying active. While no single coping strategy is the key to relieving all stress, both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping mechanisms appear to buffer stress (Aldwin and Revenson, 1987, Zimmer-Gembeck and Skinner, 2016). Policymakers and practitioners should promote more adaptive coping mechanisms, such as seeking social support and spending time outdoors to ease stress.

Finally, the mothers in this study reported feeling frustrated with government officials and confused about what health safety measures they should be taking. Spinelli et al., 2020, Fong and Iarocci, 2020 suggested that providing accurate, clear, and cohesive guidelines to the public would help relieve added stress.

5.1. Implications for research and policy

The findings suggest a need for a broadened policy response to address the needs of working parents for help with childcare. This is particularly relevant as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxes testing and quarantine, and mothers are faced with less formal support to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic/endemic. A few participants also mentioned extending the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) so they would be eligible during the pandemic. Expanding paid leave through publicly supported programs, which has been done in many European countries, is one area to explore. The study also implies that more work is needed to potentially provide options for online daycare in which a babysitter has stimulating activities and games organized to keep children entertained and engaged so parents can get work done. It is not clear how feasible this option would be for different age groups. The results also highlight a need for additional resources for mothers working at home, such as activity ideas and craft supplies, which could be distributed by local libraries and other community organizations. This way, mothers could devote more of their time to interacting with their children rather than planning and resourcing for activities.

The findings show that many individuals and communities have coped by taking things into their own hands—providing resources and support for one another. Many of the participants noted that the social support they received from families and friends acted as a buffer against stress. Forming “quaranteams” or social “bubbles” as well as online social support was an important factor in lowering stress for a lot of the mothers. Still, some participants did express a need for access to remote mental health resources such as online counselors, which shows the importance of making mental health services more accessible during these stressful times. The participants also said they had joined and created online Facebook groups for support and activity ideas. While some of the participants felt supported by the groups they were in, a few felt judged by others in the Facebook groups and expressed interest in a different type of forum for group support. This different forum could be something like an online group therapy setting facilitated by a counselor to promote encouraging healthy interactions between participants. Another promising resource for mothers coping with the pandemic would be online training and materials that provide ideas about positive coping strategies such as walking, enjoying nature, and supporting others/seeking support.

With respect to Walsh’s (2016) family resilience framework, which emphasizes communication, organization, and belief systems within families, this study contributes to growing evidence that communicative and organizational processes across entire families become disrupted under settings of distress. The study findings highlight the need to consider whole-family dynamics in response to COVID-19-induced stressors in future studies. An analysis of pandemic-related disruptions in mother’s experiences with young children necessitates consideration of organizational processes subsumed by whole families processes: (a) the building and maintenance of family relationships that neutralize the adversity of the distressing situation, and (b) the optimization of family belief systems in providing a framework of meaning-making of events related to COVID-19 (Walsh, 2016). With the significant adversities facing families during the COVID-19 pandemic, strong family relationships (e.g., coparenting, parent–child, and siblings) characterized by nurturance, guidance and protection are essential and serve as a buffer against sociocontextual risk. Given that many children were experiencing home confinement and potential isolation from other protective adults (e.g., teachers and grandparents), preservation of the sibling relationship becomes more important to successfully cope with potential stressors (Feinberg et al., 2012, Feinberg et al., 2012). The importance of cohesive and supportive coparenting relationships have also been demonstrated through durable results of the intervention all through life course and holding strongly during COVID-19 pandemic (Feinberg et al., 2021b).

Finally, Walsh’s family resilience framework highlights the need for promoting effective emotion-focused coping and the role of parental socialization in family beliefs (Walsh, 2016), which may include sharing and normalization of difficult feelings, reassurance, and embracing hope, optimism, and shared sense of family agency during difficult times (Masten, 2016). Taken together, the study findings lend support for the efficacy of family-based interventions via telehealth to support caregiver wellbeing, coparenting and siblings relationships, and child mental health, particularly in high-risk populations (MacDonnell & Prinz, 2017). To address questions about specific family processes involved in COVID-19, future longitudinal research that examines the multiplier effect of the unfolding events during COVID-19 (e.g., job loss, illness or death) could help identify patterns of adaptive coping, which in turn, could help promote mental health of caregivers and children during future public health crisis or events.

5.2. Limitations

This study was limited in that participants were primarily recruited through the social media site Facebook. While this strategy enabled us to connect with mothers during an otherwise socially distant time, it potentially excluded mothers who do not use Facebook or who do not have regular internet access. Demographic information from the sample suggests a relative amount of homogeneity in terms of gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status of participants. Given the lack of diversity of voice, our data is limited in its ability to describe the early pandemic experiences of mothers of color, single mothers, mothers who identify as LGBTQ+, or mothers of lower socioeconomic means.

The survey and interviews were also conducted only in English, thereby limiting the transferability of findings. The study is also limited in its ability to speak to the experiences of fathers. Still, we believe the rich, qualitative data from a four-month period during the height of the pandemic provide a snapshot of many mothers’ lived experience of stress and coping during a critical time. Future studies should target the additional perspectives above and seek additional insight into parenting experiences later in the pandemic, when schools and childcare centers had more broadly re-opened.

6. Conclusion

The study explores mothers’ lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on stress and coping. Qualitative analysis of open-ended interviews with a group of 44 mothers in the United States generated two main themes: increased stress and resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. Findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased stress for mothers due to the difficulty of balancing work and childcare under quarantine and concerns for health risks and healthy development of their children. Mothers have coped with this stress through a variety of problem-focused and emotion-focused approaches. The lived experiences of mothers during the pandemic highlights the need for innovations in childcare modalities, paid leave policies to relieve stress among mothers, and strengthening whole family processes and resilience through the use of coping mechanisms.

Author Contributions.

Dr. Saltanat Childress participated in conceptualization, data analysis and writing of the manuscript. Alison Roberts participated in data analysis and writing of the manuscript. Dr. Catherine LaBrenz participated in research design, data analysis and writing of the manuscript. Dr. Erin Findley participated in research design, data collection, and writing of the manuscript. Modesty Ekueku participated in data analysis and management. Dr. Philip Baiden participated in research design and review of the manuscript.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability

The data that has been used is confidential.