Childhood in a Pandemic: Parent Stress, Resources and Interactions During COVID-19

We are partnering with Tulsa Educare to provide just-in-time adaptive interventions for families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Institute is working with OU-Health Sciences Center to create an app that will provide quick daily assessments of families’ most immediate needs and stressors and will also allow researchers to study the impacts of the pandemic on families.

Families will be asked a short series of questions about their top priority and greatest needs each day regarding food, behavior guidance, learning activities, and stress management. Their responses will be used to provide resources targeted to meet those needs such as how to get diapers, baby formula, or groceries as well as videos designed to help parents support their children’s emotional needs, demonstrate physical activities and sensory input, learning activities and calming exercises.

The intervention resources will be curated by ECEI staff to ensure they are developmentally and culturally appropriate for the participating families.

The project is being funded by a COVID-19 Rapid Response Seed Grant through the OU Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships. The university provided similar grants to a total of 10 projects from a pool of 72 submissions. This is the only OU-Tulsa project to receive one of the grants.