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Resources

For the long arc of parenting, not only the next moment.

CovaLea is in development, but the work of parenting is happening now. These are the research, government resources, and free help that informed how we're building CovaLea — and that we'd point you to today, regardless of any app.

If you need help right now

  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988. 24/7, free, confidential. 988lifeline.org ↗
  • Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline — call or text 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453). 24/7, free, confidential. For any concern about a child's safety.
  • National Maternal Mental Health Hotline — call or text 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). 24/7, English and Spanish.
  • In immediate danger? Call 911.

The research

What anchors CovaLea's approach.

These are the papers and resources we kept coming back to. CovaLea isn't a new framework — it's a way to bring these practices into the hardest moments.

Serve and return

Back-and-forth parent–child interactions are foundational to brain development. When a child "serves" (a cry, gesture, expression) and a parent "returns" (eye contact, words, touch), neural connections form. CovaLea is designed to help you keep returning when it's hardest.

Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University

Maternal emotion coaching & child emotion regulation

Within-interaction research observed mother–child dyads at 30-second intervals. Parents' acknowledgement and verbal labeling of emotions was linked to better child self-regulation in the same conversation — not weeks later.

Affective Science (2024), PMC

Parental emotion coaching as a protective factor

Emotion coaching — acceptance + acknowledgement + verbal coaching — is associated with stronger self-regulation in children with aggressive or socially-rejected behavior, suggesting it specifically helps kids who are struggling.

Peer-reviewed, PMC

In-the-moment smartphone support for parents

A 2025 study assessed parents' real-time emotion dysregulation to inform the design of an in-the-moment parenting smartphone app for 2–4-year-olds. Validates the category CovaLea fits into and the need for in-the-moment support.

PLoS ONE (2025)

Parental influence on emotion regulation in middle childhood

A systematic review of how parents shape emotion regulation through middle childhood — the years where habits set in. Useful framing for why in-the-moment coaching matters across ages, not only with toddlers.

Systematic review, PMC

Emotion coaching for kids with oppositional defiant behavior

Parental emotion coaching and child emotion regulation as protective factors for children with ODD. Targeted, peer-reviewed evidence for the population that most needs it.

Peer-reviewed, PMC

CDC parenting resources

Free and government-backed.

The CDC's parenting resources are free, ad-free, evidence-based, and quietly excellent.

Free support lines

Talk to a real person, free.

These hotlines aren't only for crises — they're staffed for parenting questions, stress, sleep, behavior, and "I don't know what to do" moments.

CovaLea is in development. None of these organizations have endorsed CovaLea or are affiliated with us — we share them because they're the resources we'd point a friend to today, regardless of any product.

Not medical, psychological, or legal advice. Always trust your instincts and your kids' actual care team.

Want this in your pocket?

CovaLea brings these practices into the moment they're hardest to remember. Add your email and we'll be in touch when early access opens.

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