Parental Distress and Perception of Children’s Executive Functioning after the First COVID‐19 Lockdown in Italy

Abstract

The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19), and the consequential first italian lockdown to minimize viral transmission, have resulted in many significant changes in the every‐ day lives of families, with an increased risk of parental burnout. This study explores the impact of the first COVID‐19 lockdown in Italy on parental distress and parental perceptions of children’s executive functions (EFs). Participants were 308 Italian parents with children between 4 and 17 years of age; they were recruited through online advertisements on websites and social media, and they were given an online survey. The measures were: the balance between risks and resources (BR2) and the executive functioning self‐report (EF). Findings of the study suggest that the most distressed parents perceived their children as less competent in EF, highlighting a cognitive fragility on attention, memory, and self‐regulation (Pearson correlation coefficient, p < 0.05); significant differences were found between parents of children exhibiting typical and atypical patterns of development (ANOVA, p < 0.05). The study reinforces the need to provide families with psychological aid to support parental competence in restrictive lockdown conditions.