Introduction
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) spread rapidly across the world and caused a pandemic.1 The COVID 19 pandemic not only affected individuals in social, economic and mental areas, but also a significant change occurred in their lifestyle.1,2
It is stated that the direct and indirect psychological and social effects of the COVID 19 pandemic are widespread and it will adversely affect mental health now or in the future.2 A serious anxiety response occurs in people living in the regions where the pandemic is experienced.3 Studies have revealed that anxiety, depression and sleep problems are common in adults during the COVID 19 pandemic.4–6
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in enormous disruptions to family life.7 In addition to a sudden change in work life, family life and social life routines, economic problems and fear of pandemic negatively has affected the well-being of parents.8 During this period, parents experience many stress factors such the closure of schools and care facilities, continuation of education at home, parents’ being unable to hug their children with the fear of contamination and obligation to go to work. Parents also may feel fear and uncertainty about how to keep their families safe.9 All these issues may reveal mental problems in parents and cause existing problems to get worse at the same time. In addition, it is predicted that the COVID 19 pandemic will not only cause mental problems but also cause an increase in future anxiety.10 High levels of anxiety in parents are also important in terms of causing an increase in children’s anxiety7 and increasing the risk of harsh parenting and maltreatment.11 The psychosocial effects of the pandemic may occur over a long period of time on the parent and child population. For this reason, it is critical to minimize the negative effects that may be experienced in the long term by implementing early interventions to reduce the level of anxiety.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a short, resource-oriented and goal-oriented therapeutic approach that helps individuals change by creating solutions.12 It is a therapy method that focuses on individuals’ becoming aware of their potential revealing their strengths.13,14 Focusing on the solution can increase the self‐confidence of individuals, their capacity to produce solutions, and their ability to see their strengths and positive aspects.15 It is reported in the literature that short-term therapies provide faster benefits than long-term psychotherapies. For this reason, it is thought that short-term therapies will be applied in a short time and have a rapid effect in reducing the anxiety of parents during the pandemic. In the light of this information, it is aimed to determine the anxiety levels of parents with children between the ages of 3-6 in the COVID 19 pandemic and to examine the effects of online SFBT, which is planned to be given to parents with high anxiety levels in the study.
Research hypotheses are as follows;
H1 SFBT is an effective method in reducing the state anxiety levels of parents with children aged 3-6.
H2 SFBT is an effective method in reducing trait anxiety levels of parents with children aged 3-6.