Impact of Parents’ Stress on Engagement with Online Learning during COVID-19

Abstract

To date, existing studies on the relationship between online learning and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic have been limited to students. This paper therefore discusses the impact of children’s online learning on parents’ stress. In addition, this study also investigates parents’ demographics in relation to their stress and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, the study adopts a quantitative research approach using a survey questionnaire on a sample of 422 parents residing in Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC). The hypothesized links between components were tested and evaluated using path analysis. The study found that parents’ academic stress is a significant predictor of engagement with their children’s online learning. Furthermore, technical stress was a significant predictor of parents’ cognitive engagement but was not a significant predictor of behavioral and emotional engagement. Personal stress was only a significant predictor of behavioral engagement; financial stress was an insignificant predictor of all types of parental engagement. Finally, parents’ gender and academic qualifications were found to have a significant impact on stress. This study has added new knowledge and understanding of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, being the first to investigate the impact of parents’ stress on parents’ engagement with online learning during COVID-19. In conclusion, the purpose of this study was to investigate: (a) the impact of the academic, technical, financial, and personal stress parents experience in the context of children’s online learning on parents’ behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement with their children’s online learning; (b) whether parents’ demographic characteristics as well as the number of enrolled students in school and type of school are related to parents’ stress (four types of stress) and engagement (three types of engagement).