Parenting practices and family relationships during the COVID-19 lockdown in Ghana


https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2022.1849
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2022)
Submitted: 23 February 2021
Accepted: 25 April 2022
Published: 27 July 2022
parenting, practices, relationships, COVID-19, Ghana
Abstract Views: 841
PDF: 305
HTML: 19
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Authors

  • Samuel Asiedu Owusu
    sowusu@ucc.edu.gh
    Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9249-6036
  • Bernard Ekumah Department of Environmental Science, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
  • Ruby Victoria Kodom Department of Public Administration and Health Services, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
  • Nancy Innocentia Ebu Enyan Department of Adult Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
  • Irene Korkoi Aboh Department of Adult Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
  • Reginald Quansah Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
  • Sheila A. Boamah School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
  • Godfred O. Boateng Global and Environmental Health Lab, Department of Kinesiology, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, University of Texas, Arlington, United States.
  • Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, University of Cape Coast; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
  • David Teye Doku Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, University of Cape Coast; Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
  • Epaphrodite Nsabimana Mental Health and Behavior Research Group, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
  • Stefan Jansen Mental Health and Behavior Research Group, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
  • Frederick Ato Armah Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, University of Cape Coast; Department of Environmental Science, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been far reaching across almost every sphere of life. Families, which are the basic units of society, have not been spared the ravages of the pandemic. Changes in family daily routines as a result of COVID-19 can affect spousal relationships, parenting and childcare practices. However, the extent to which the pandemic has affected parenting practices and family relationships in Ghana is not known. The goal of this study was to assess how parenting practices and family relationships have been influenced during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. Data for this paper was drawn from an online questionnaire response from 463 participants in Ghana as a subset analysis from a multi-country study on personal and family coping system with COVID-19 pandemic in the global south. The mean score for pre-COVID-19 relationship with partner (36.86) was higher (p<0.0001) than the mean score for during COVID-19 relationship with partner (35.32) indicating that COVID-19 has had negative influence on relationships. The mean score for pre-COVID-19 parenting (32.78) was higher (p<0.0001) compared to the mean score for during COVID-19 parenting (31.40) indicating negative influence on parenting. We have predicted that participants whose coping levels were “Well” on the average, are likely to be doing well in relationship with partners and parenting practices during the COVID-19 period The challenging public health containment measures of the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively influenced the relationship between partners and parenting practices in Ghana.


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Owusu, S. A., Ekumah, B., Kodom, R. V., Ebu Enyan, N. I., Korkoi Aboh, I., Quansah, R., Boamah, S. A., Boateng, G. O., Obiri-Yeboah, D., Doku, D. T., Nsabimana, E., Jansen, S., & Armah, F. A. (2022). Parenting practices and family relationships during the COVID-19 lockdown in Ghana. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2022.1849

Copyright (c) 2022 Samuel Asiedu Owusu, Bernard Ekumah, Ruby Victoria Kodom, Nancy Innocentia Ebu Enyan, Irene Korkoi Aboh, Reginald Quansah, Sheila A. Boamah, Godfred O. Boateng, Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah, David Teye Doku, Epaphrodite Nsabimana, Stefan Jansen, Frederick Ato Armah

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