How 2 Survive a Pandemic: Adolescents Dealing with Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic and has been a significant burden on families and adolescents. Assessments from parents surveyed in the project "Parents and COVID-19 (PACE)," as well as numerous studies, indicate that adolescents were particularly affected and their concerns were barely heard. Adolescents experienced educational disadvantages and impairments to their emotional, psychological, physical, and social well-being. At the same time, they developed creative ways to cope with the challenges. They found new strategies and problem-solving skills that can also be applied to other crises and their resolution.

The participatory project "How 2 Survive a Pandemic: Adolescents Dealing with Crisis" helps to access the knowledge of adolescents, initiates a future-oriented discourse on the topic of "Surviving Pandemics and Crises," and promotes participation in scientific research. In collaboration with four schools in Lower Austria and Vienna, and the association “Sindbad Social Business”, we are developing a Survival Guide Booklet with adolescents aged 14 to 19, scheduled to be released in the spring of 2025, precisely five years after the onset of the pandemic.

Zartler, Ulrike (principal investigator)
Dafert, Vera (research assistant)
Grabner, Lena (undergraduate research assistant)
Schimek, Daniela (undergraduate research assistant)
Sirka, Sarah (undergraduate research assistant)

Projektlaufzeit: 01/03/24 → 30/04/25

Parents and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying protection measures had significant impact on parents’ lives. The Austrian-wide qualitative longitudinal study ‘Parents and the COVID-19 Pandemic’ focuses on the short-, medium-, and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on families and provides comprehensive insights into parents’ experiences throughout the course of the pandemic. Data collection started in the first week of the Austrian-wide lockdown in March 2020 with weekly to bi-weekly contacts and was continued in larger intervals until June 2022, covering a period of two years (2020-2022). The sample consists of 98 respondents (65 in the interview and 33 in the diary strand) with a total of 181 kindergarten- or school-aged children.

Thanks to FWF funding, the effects of the pandemic on parents and their children can now be analysed in detail and over time. How did parents perceive the COVID-19 crisis? How did they rearrange and manage everyday family life, childcare and work? What stressors and moderators did they experience? What strategies did they develop to deal with the pandemic? What resources do parents need? What changes are evident over time?

These questions are addressed by Ulrike Zartler and her team. Answers to these questions are essential to understand the impact of the pandemic on families and the support measures that would be needed to minimize the negative consequences for parents and their children.

Zartler, Ulrike (principal investigator)
Dafert, Vera (research assistant)
Dirnberger, Petra (research assistant)
Erben-Harter, Sabine (research assistant)
Grabner, Lena (undergraduate research assistant)
Schimek, Daniela (undergraduate research assistant)
Sirka, Sarah (undergraduate research assistant)

Duration: 01/05/21 → 30/04/25

Corona: work and care

The study ‘Corona: Work and Care’ analysed the working and living situation of parents with kindergarten and school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria on the basis of longitudinal data (problem-centred interviews, diary entries). Based on the larger study ‘Corona and Family Lives’, the analysis included a purposefully drawn sample of 30 respondents who have been investigated repeatedly since the first week of the Austrian lockdown in March 2020.

The study focused on parents’ challenges, tasks and resources in relation to their multiplied responsibilities (e.g., homeschooling, childcare, provision). The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying restrictions placed heavy demands on parents: they were called to meet their family’s economic needs, to manage child care and workplace demands, to care for their children or for other family members, to develop new roles as teachers, to adjust daily routines and family norms, to provide for their children’s safety and well-being, to deal with their children’s emotions and with their own anxieties.

The study provides in-depth insights into parents’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. It allows to investigate how parents dealt with the crisis and how they used their available resources over time. This enables us to understand the impact of the crisis on parents and families.

Zartler, Ulrike (principal investigator)
Dirnberger, Petra (research assistant)
Dafert, Vera (research assistant)
Schimek, Daniela (undergraduate research assistant)

Duration: 01/09/20 → 31/03/21

Publications

Report

Women in Vienna and COVID-19

The study ‘Women in Vienna and COVID-19’ analysed how women in Vienna with kindergarten and school-aged children dealt with the COVID-19-related restrictions. It is based on qualitative longitudinal data (problem-centred interviews, diary entries). Data analysis focused on daily routines and practices, the experienced challenges, and the gender-specific division of tasks and resources in the respondents’ families.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying restrictions had disproportionate effects on women’s lives: Stay-at-home orders, social distancing measures, closures of child care facilities and schools, home office requirements, economic and existential insecurities entailed particular challenges, as women still shoulder the bulk of the unpaid care and household tasks in their families, and perform these tasks under difficult conditions during the pandemic.

The study provides in-depth insights into the experiences of women living in Vienna during the COVID-19 pandemic. It makes an essential contribution to understand the related challenges and strategies.

Zartler, Ulrike (principal investigator)
Dafert, Vera (research assistant)
Erben-Harter, Sabine (undergraduate research assistant)

Duration: 01/06/20 → 31/12/20

Publications

Report

Press release