A systematic review comparing pre-post COVID-19 pandemic parenting style and mental health-related factors

•This study reviewed 253 publications from Scopus, web of Science, and Google Scholar, ultimately including 18 studies that met the PRISMA criteria.•Psychology was the most prominent discipline among the reviewed studies, highlighting an interdisciplinary approach to healthcare and technology development.•Publishing trends showed a peak in 2022, with 2020 recording the highest citation scores.•Parenting style significantly affects parental well-being, with additional psychological and social factors also playing a role.•The review found that COVID-19 increased parental stress and mental health challenges, leading to shifts in parenting dynamics and underscoring the need for enhanced coping strategies and social support. Parenting stress has grown dramatically as a result of the pandemic, according to a systematic analysis that compared parenting styles and mental health-related factors before and during COVID-19. Regarding the COVID-19 epidemic, parents reported feeling more stressed. This included anxiety about their kids' health and safety, financial hardships, and interruptions to their regular routines and support networks. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that the pandemic had a detrimental effect on parents' mental health, with greater rates of anxiety, sadness, and overall psychological distress among parents. These findings demonstrate the intricate interactions that exist between personal variables and exogenous stressors like the pandemic that affect parenting stress. The COVID-19 pandemic and other external stressors, financial hardships, and marital status are only a few of the variables that might affect parenting stress overall. Consequently, while analyzing parenting stress, creating parent support interventions, and contrasting pre- and post-COVID-19 patterns, it is imperative to take these diverse elements into account. This study includes material from three well-known databases that are used by scholars all around the world: Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), and Google Scholar. The records were screened during the review process using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) methodology. We evaluated 10,053 abstracts and titles found through Google Scholar and database searches. After a complete text screening of 253 publications, 18 research were included in our study. According to the data retrieved from every database, the research questions in this study are multidisciplinary in nature, reflecting