COVID-19 era: more maternal permissiveness compared to pre-pandemic times

Objective This study aimed to assess mothers' attitudes toward their preschool children before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods In this observational study, mothers of children aged 2 to 6 years completed a family information form and the Parent Attitude Scale (PAS) during two periods: the Before Pandemic (BPanP) group (n=303) and the During Pandemic (DPanP) group (n=344). Generalized lineer models evaluated differences in PAS subdimension scores according to pandemic period and mother-child characteristics. Results Compared to the BPanP group, the median scores for democratic and overprotective attitudes were quite similar in the two phases, while the median scores for authoritarian and permissive attitudes were notably higher in the DPanP group (p=0.014, p<0.001, respectively). When we accounted for mother-child factors, multivariate analysis revealed a positive link between the pandemic period and permissive parenting scores. Prior to the pandemic, there was a negative correlation between democratic parental attitudes and both authoritarian and permissive attitudes. However, during the pandemic, this negative correlation only persisted between democratic and authoritarian attitudes. The positive correlation between authoritarian and permissive attitudes, observed before the pandemic, remained unchanged during the pandemic period. A new positive correlation emerged between democratic and overprotective attitudes. Conclusion The findings indicate changes in maternal attitudes, with higher scores in permissive parenting amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in contrast to the time before the pandemic.