In Their Own Words: Qualitative Study of Parenting During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Quinn Tucker, Robert Sege, Allison Stephens and 4 others
PMID 40526415WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of young children described concrete supports like childcare, financial stability, and healthcare access as the foundation for coping.
Without these practical resources, they struggled to maintain resilience and support their children's development, regardless of individual effort.
Key findings
01Lack of concrete support was the most frequently identified challenge for parents.
02Parental resilience was the most common theme coded as a support, involving strategies like mindfulness and self-care.
03Concrete supports such as childcare and financial stability were described as enabling access to other protective factors like resilience and social connections.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study used non-probability quota sampling from an internet panel, which may introduce bias and limits generalizability. Responses were self-reported and subject to recall and social desirability bias. The analysis did not examine differences based on demographics or survey waves, so it cannot identify specific subgroups at higher risk. Reflexive thematic analysis was used without inter-rater reliability checks, meaning the coding relies on the research team's shared interpretation rather than independent verification.
Declared interests
The authors have no financial disclosures or conflicts of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this study as evidence that specific parenting interventions or resilience training improve outcomes. It describes parents' perceptions of what helped or hindered them during the pandemic, not the effectiveness of any treatment. The findings highlight the role of external concrete supports, not individual clinical techniques.