Family cohesion of married parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the sequential mediating role of parental stress, relational resilience, and attitude towards gender equality in the relationship between married parents' resilience and family cohesion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample of this study consisted of 492 married parents, 72.2% (n = 355) female, and 27.8% (n = 137) male, living in any province of Turkey. Regression models were obtained with the relevant variables to determine the possible factors affecting family harmony. The significance of the calculated regression coefficients and indirect effects were evaluated with the Bootstrap technique (5000 samples). According to the findings, the effect of individuals' psychological resilience on parent stress was statistically significant in the first model. Similarly, in the second model, the effect of individuals' psychological resilience and parent stress on relational resilience is statistically significant. In the third model, it was found that the effects of individuals' psychological resilience, parental stress, and relational resilience on gender equality were found to be statistically significant. In the last model, it was determined that the effects of the married parents' psychological resilience, parental stress, relational resilience, and gender equality on family harmony were statistically significant. Furthermore, in line with the regression coefficients and confidence interval values calculated with the Bootstrap technique, it was determined that parental stress, relational resilience, and gender equality had significant sequential indirect effects separately and together. The findings were discussed and interpreted in light of the relevant literature, and recommendations for researchers and practitioners were made. Keywords: family cohesion, married parents, resilience, relational resilience, parenting stress, gender equality, COVID-19