For many families, the COVID-19 pandemic was a time of high stress and anxiety about the future. But new research shows that the lockdowns had a silver lining: more family dinners.

The study, published in the journal Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, discovered that families who ate together more often during the pandemic also had more positive interactions with each other, were more likely to share news and information and even videoconferenced more with extended family members.

The concept that shared mealtimes are important for family togetherness is hardly new. But why are family dinners considered so beneficial, and how can families make the most of these meals together? Three mental health experts explain.

Why are family dinners beneficial?
On a basic level, family dinners bring family members together, Dr. Amir A. Afkhami, a psychiatrist and professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, tells Yahoo Life.

“Family dinners allow family members to share their experiences, reinforcing relationships and family bonds,” he says. “They also help both parents and children to improve their communication skills, and through the shared narrative of daily challenges, encourage active listening, empathy and conflict resolution.”

A family dinner is a reliable time for parents and kids to connect, Anne Fishel, a psychotherapist, lead author of the latest family dinner study and researcher in family therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells Yahoo Life. “That parent-child connection is really a seatbelt on the rocky road of childhood and adolescence,” Fishel says. “There are 25 years of research that show that when kids have mealtimes with their parents, it’s good for their brains, bodies and mental health.”