Social support in a parenting Facebook group during the COVID‐19 pandemic

• Published date: 01 April 2023
• Author: Alison Hooper,Claire Schweiker,Cailin Kerch
• Date: 01 April 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12804

RESEARCH

Social support in a parenting Facebook group during

the COVID-19 pandemic

AlisonHooper| ClaireSchweiker | CailinKerch

Curriculum and Instruction, The University of

Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

Correspondence Alison Hooper, Box 870232,

Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA.

Email: alhooper2@ua.edu

Abstract

Objective: This paper includes a mixed methods content

analysis of a parenting Facebook group focused on

COVID-19. We analyze participants’posts to identify the

types of support parents sought and gave.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in

increased parental stress and challenges related to chil-

dren’s development. Many families turned to social media

as a source of information and social support.

Method: We analyzed 1,180 posts from a large, closed

Facebook group focused on parenting during COVID-19.

We coded posts using a modified version of social support

theory and supplemented this analysis with codes related

to giving and receiving support, post format, and topic.

Results: Participants frequently offered informational sup-

port, typically reposting content from other sources. There

were fewer instances of soliciting support, but these posts

had significantly more comments. The most common

topics discussed were parenting and child development,

remote schooling support, literacy, and adult mental

health.

Conclusion: Findings illustrate the benefits and challenges

of online support communities for parents, especially those

on social media platforms.

Implications: These results suggest areas where parents

may need or want support during and after COVID-19

and ways in which social media can serve as a form of par-

enting social support.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19, parenting, social media, social support

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a stressful time for families with

young children. Quarantines and school closing left families with new stressors and less access

to typical social supports. Many families looked online for support and resources as they

Received: 1 June 2022Revised: 27 September 2022Accepted: 30 October 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12804

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

530 Family Relations. 2023;72:530–546.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

navigated staying at home, remote schooling, canceled activities and trips, and added stress and

anxiety. They often sought this social support through social media platforms. Across platforms

like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, there was a proliferation of content—humorous, aca-

demic, health related—geared toward families with young children navigating pandemic chal-

lenges. In fact, Americans relied on technology more than ever at the start of the pandemic

(Anderson & Vogels, 2020). However, there is mixed evidence about the effectiveness of social

media as a form of parenting support.

This study used social support theory (Cohen & McKay, 1984; Cutrona & Suhr, 1992)to

examine the support given and received in a Facebook parenting group about COVID-19. Spe-

cifically, this research is among the first to explore online sources of support for families related

to the pandemic. The primary goals were to identify the types of supports participants sought

out and provided in the group and the most frequently discussed topics. This has implications

for determining parents’support needs and the feasibility of social media to address social sup-

port needs related to COVID-19. Our goal was to use what we learned to identify ways policies

and programs can be responsive to parenting needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Parenting challenges and stressors during COVID-19

When schools shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as many as a half-billion chil-

dren worldwide switched to remote or virtual learning during COVID-19 (Cohen &

Kupferschmidt, 2020). Overnight, parents of these remote learners took on the role of proxy

educators (Davis et al., 2021), with suddenly increased responsibilities related to school and

their children’s learning (Schmidt et al., 2020).

Research from before the pandemic has found that parents vary in their feelings about

remote learning; some feel more connected to what their child is learning (Selwyn et al., 2011),

but many parents do not feel prepared to support their children’s online learning and struggle

to keep their children on a schedule and completing their schoolwork (Dong et al., 2020;

Sørensen et al., 2012). Another challenge is schools’lack of preparation to help parents navigate

online learning, including technology challenges (Goodall, 2016).

During the pandemic, parents cited feelings of self-doubt about their parenting and teaching

skills as one of the main challenges they faced in maintaining a positive relationship with their

children (Roos et al., 2021). These challenges related to lengthy school closures and remote

schooling intersected with other challenges parents faced, including remote work, financial

strains, and lack of child care (Garbe et al., 2020; Patrick et al., 2020; Stites et al., 2021). In par-

ticular, families in low-income or crowded households have experienced more significant chal-

lenges related to COVID-19 (Cluver et al., 2020).

Mental health of parents and children

There are mixed findings about how pandemic-related changes affected parents’mental health.

Some studies found no relationship between supporting online learning and parent mental

health (Janssen et al., 2020), whereas others found struggles with online learning were related to

increased mental health challenges (e.g., Davis et al., 2021). Similarly, some parents viewed

their additional time with their children as beneficial, whereas others found it stressful (Calarco

et al., 2020).

Overall, crisis events like the COVID-19 pandemic tend to produce added stress and anxiety

for those experiencing the event (Hobfoll, 1991). Stress related to COVID-19 has negatively

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