The Effect of Corona Anxiety and Death Anxiety on Maternal-Child Conflict in Home Quarantine related to :COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 has changed the lifestyles and patterns of interaction in families. This study aimed to investigate the effect of coronavirus anxiety and death anxiety on the conflict between mothers and children aged 7 to 12 years in the home quarantine due to COVID-19. Thus, 160 mothers and primary school children in Tehran were studied. The results showed that increasing coronavirus anxiety in mothers increases conflict in children, which was represented in their paintings. The psychological symptoms of coronavirus anxiety were related to the position of the child, mother, and father on the child's drawing, and the physical symptoms of coronavirus anxiety disorder were related to the position of the child, mother, and father in the paintings. Also, death anxiety was related to the child's distance from the mother, the child's and the father's position. Furthermore, the mediating role of death anxiety on the relationship between coronavirus anxiety and Mother-Child Conflict was confirmed. Findings of the study were discussed with Parncutt's “Reflective Consciousness Theory” of maternal hypersensitivity at the time of arousal of fundamental anxiety. ‌ Coronavirus Anxiety, Death Anxiety, Mother-Child Conflict, Home Quarantine, COVID-19. ‌ ‌Introduction The COVID-19 virus has had unprecedented health, social, and economic effects worldwide. These factors have affected women's and children's health more due to their greater vulnerability, women's gender role as caregivers, and increased exposure to the virus (Rudo et al., 2022). Research shows that COVID-19 has had a negative impact on conflicts within the family. Conflict refers to the inability to resolve differences and is often associated with hostility, tension, or aggression. These conflicts were influenced by various factors, such as changing daily schedules during the home quarantine period, reducing resources such as entertainment, and anxiety caused by the uncertainty of the situation. On the other hand, research results have shown that anxiety is one of the consequences of the spread of the COVID-19 virus (Lopes et al., 2020). Corona anxiety means anxiety caused by the possibility of contracting the coronavirus, which is often due to its unknown nature and cognitive ambiguity. This factor endangers the psychological health of family members and increases tensions at home between family members (Rachel et al., 2020). From the perspective of developmental psychology research, one of the factors that influence the relationship between mother and child is the mother's psychological characteristics, including her level of anxiety and worry. The anxiety and pressures that parents experience during various disasters and incidents, including COVID-19, endanger parents' mental health and affect parent-child relationships by influencing parents' potential behavior. On the other hand, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, people's anxiety about death has increased. Emotions, fears, and thoughts hidden in normal life experiences that are related to the end of life are referred to as death anxiety. When a person suffers from death anxiety, close relationships, intimacy, and attachment are sacrificed in favor of the feeling of loss. This research investigates the effect of coronavirus anxiety and death anxiety on mother-child conflict during home quarantine due to COVID-19. Methodology The current study was a descriptive-correlational one, and its statistical population included all mothers with children aged 7 to 12 years old in District 6 of Tehran in December of the academic year 1399-1400. Participants were selected based on entry and exit criteria using convenience sampling. Due to quarantine conditions, research questionnaires were provided to mothers via social networks and with the cooperation of teachers. Finally, 160 samples (80 mothers and 80 children) were examined based on Morgan's table and research criteria. Before the implementation of the research, the mothers were informed of the objectives of the research. They were assured that their information would remain confidential and would only be analyzed collectively. They were also informed that they could leave the research whenever they wanted. SPSS software was used for analysis. Findings The most frequent age groups were mothers aged 30 to 40 years old and children in first to third grade. First, the demographic information, average, and standard deviation of the data were examined, and then the data were examined using the path analysis method. Beta standardized regression coefficients were also used to interpret the results. The results of the research showed that anxiety Corona is effective on the conflict between mother and child. The psychological component of Corona anxiety was significant with a beta of 0.490 for the subscale of distance from the mother, a beta of 0.095 for the subscale of the mother's position, and a beta of 0.380 for the subscale of the father's position. Additionally, the physical component of Corona anxiety was significant with a beta of 0.267 for the subscale of the child's position, a beta of 0.114 for the subscale of the mother's position, and a beta of 0.177 for the subscale of the father's position. Furthermore, the results of the research showed that death anxiety in the mother is related to the conflict between the mother and the child, and the distance from the mother, the position of the child, and the position of the father indicate an increase in the conflict between the mother and the child. Finally, the mediating role of death anxiety and Corona anxiety was investigated and the results indicated that death anxiety plays a mediating role in the path of Corona anxiety on mother-child conflict. Result The findings of the research confirmed the strong relationship between anxiety of Corona and death anxiety in mothers. In other words, it seems that Covid-19 is associated with death for these participants and evokes death anxiety. This is consistent with Parankat's (2019) reflexive awareness theory, which states that both Corona anxiety and death anxiety trigger an overprotective behavioral system to protect the child. Furthermore, the results showed that the increase in Corona anxiety in mothers caused an increase in conflict in children. According to the findings of Valery et al.'s research (2018), the presence of anxiety symptoms in parents causes them to control and master the situation more, which aims to prevent their children from facing threatening situations, and this can cause more conflicts and disputes with their children. Additionally, the research found that Corona anxiety in mothers predicted the relationship between mothers and children and children's aggression. The quality of the mother-child relationship is a factor that can predict anxiety and mood disorders in children, and increasing it in the relationship between parents and children can reduce anxiety in children (Franz and McKinney, 2018). Moreover, this research showed that death anxiety plays a mediating role in the relationship between Corona anxiety and mother-child conflict. 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Keywords

• coronavirus anxiety
• death anxiety
• mother-child conflict
• home quarantine
• covid-19