The research shows that parents are twice as likely to be stressed, due to distance-learning.

From homeschooling blues to summer booze, a Maryland study found that parents of school-aged children are drinking more during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study was headed by Dr. Elyse Grossman of Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Dr. Susan Sonnenschein of University Maryland Baltimore County, a mother-daughter team who are also quarantined together. 

The two surveyed hundreds of parents during the pandemic and found that not only are parents drinking more, but they’re also engaging in riskier behavior such as binge-drinking.

The research shows that parents are twice as likely to be stressed due to distance-learning, and the mother-daughter team believes that parents did not have enough time to prepare for this new teaching environment.

According to Sonnenschein and Grossman, parents of elementary school students are actually doing a lot of teaching, and schools need to do more to prepare parents in this uncertain and challenging time.

“We need the school systems to provide guidance to the teachers to then provide guidance to the parents,” said Grossman. 

In an interview with the media, Baltimore parent Dan Brown commented on the study and recalled how the pandemic has brought stress onto his own family.

“We’re both working from home and the kids are not going anywhere anytime soon,” he said. “Parents of only children, I definitely see the strains. It’s just pent-up energy for the parents, I guess, as well.”

What’s most alarming about the study’s findings is that alcohol supresses the immune system and prevents the body from fully fighting off disease. Therefore, an increase in alcohol consumption could have detrimental effects on parents’ ability to recover from coronavirus.

So, what do you think about the study? Can you relate? Let us know in the comments!