JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

COVID-19 has increased stress levels for parents, especially healthcare workers and others on the COVID frontlines. Yet little is known about stress management for this population.

Objective:

This pilot study tested the impact of a phone application (apt.mind) in reducing stress of healthcare provider parents by delivering a 30-day micro-randomized intervention.

Methods:

Participants included 102 parents who work in healthcare and their co-parenting partners. They were given smartwatches and access to a mindfulness application. Each day, all parents were randomly assigned to: 1) brief stress reduction messages, 2) meditation audio activities via app, or 3) no intervention. Stress was evaluated by a self-reported COVID-19 Family Stressor Screener (10-item; 5-Likert scale) to rate levels of stress regarding food security, job stability, family conflict, mental health, and social isolation. Dosage was measured by the percentage of parents who received any activities (app or messages; M=66%, SD=9.8), and parents were divided into three groups by dosage level: Low (below 60%), Middle (61-70%), and High (above 71%).

Results:

Utilizing a pre-post test, this study assessed changes in mental health symptoms and parenting by individuals’ dosage levels. Participants who received high levels of intervention reported significant decreases in COVID-19 related family stress (t=-2.50, p=.02) and a significant increase in parenting efficacy (t=2.39, p=.03) while parents in the low or average levels did not show those changes

Conclusions:

This study supports the feasibility and efficacy of technology-based tools to reduce stress and the need to examine just-in-time interventions. Future studies can improve by looking at micro-changes in the parents’ stress level, on a daily basis, and including physiological data such as heart rate variability to include objective stress data.