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Individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) have been reported to experience increased levels of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. In our study, we document how individuals with Down Syndrome (DS; N = 557; Mage = 16.52; 233 female) and Williams syndrome (WS, N = 247; Mage = 18.43; 113 female) experienced the first wave (April 2020–May 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world. Using multilevel linear mixed regressions, we studied (a) parental reported anxiety of individuals with DS and WS, (b) these individuals’ specific concerns, and (c) their use and efficacy of emotion regulation (ER) strategies during the first wave of COVID-19. Predictors of anxiety, such as the age of the individual with NDC, type of condition, and time, were investigated. Individuals with WS experienced higher levels of anxiety compared to those with DS and the older the individuals with NDC were the more anxiety they experienced. In terms of concerns, group effects indicated that individuals with WS scored higher for most of the concerns. There were no gender differences in concerns, yet most of the concerns increased with age except for concerns about loss of routine, boredom, loss of institutional support and family conflict. Finally, significant group effects were found and indicated a more frequent use of a variety of adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies in individuals with WS. We did not identify group differences in the efficacy of ER strategies. Our results indicate that individuals with WS are likely to exhibit higher levels of anxiety, but also higher levels of concerns depending on their age. Similarly, individuals with WS use a variety of ER strategies more frequently but these strategies are not necessarily more efficient for them. We discuss the impact of these findings in relation to anxiety identification and support across individuals with NDCs.

A systematic review will be conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and well-being of children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities. The review questions include: RQ1: To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the mental health and well-being of children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities? RQ2: What is the quality of the evidence?

A systematic review of studies that have examined therapies and / or interventions for individuals who have Williams syndrome that apply to educational competence and learning, with the aim of better understanding the evidence-base for interventions and education approaches, the quality of existing research evidence, and identifying evidence gaps. In sum, the review will provide a better understanding of the evidence base for improving educational competence for individuals with Williams syndrome. Therapies and interventions can be applied at the home, community or in the classroom, by parents or professionals but should focus on raising educational competence or learning.

A national DECP SEND review survey regarding Educational Psychologists’ views and which will help us form the DECP response to SEND review consultation.

Supplemental material for Preliminary investigation of the psychological sense of school membership scale with primary school students in a cross-cultural context by Rhea Wagle, Erin Dowdy, Chunyan Yang, Olympia Palikara, Susana Castro, Karen Nylund-Gibson and Michael J. Furlong in School Psychology International

Background: Although it is well-established that children with language impairment (LI) and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) both show elevated levels of emotional and behavioural problems, the level and types of difficulties across the two groups have not previously been directly compared. \ud \ud Aims: To compare levels of emotional and behavioural problems in children with LI and children with ASD recruited from the same mainstream schools.\ud \ud Methods & Procedures: We measured teacher-reported emotional and behavioural problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a sample of 5-to-13-year old children with LI (N=62) and children with ASD (N=42) attending mainstream school but with identified special educational needs.\ud \ud Outcomes & Results: Both groups showed similarly elevated levels of emotional, conduct and hyperactivity problems. The only differences between the LI and ASD groups were on subscales assessing peer problems (which were higher in the ASD group) and prosocial behaviours (which were higher in the LI group). Overall, there were few associations between emotional and behavioural problems and child characteristics, reflecting the pervasive nature of these difficulties in children with LI and children with ASD, although levels of problems were higher in children with ASD with lower language ability. However, in the ASD group only, a measure of family social economic status was associated with language ability and attenuated the association between language ability and emotional and behavioural problems.\ud \ud Conclusions & Implications: Children with LI and children with ASD in mainstream school show similarly elevated levels of emotional and behavioural problems, which require monitoring and may benefit from intervention. Further work is required to identify the child, family and situational factors that place children with LI and children with ASD at risk of emotional and behavioural problems, and whether these differ between the two groups. This work can then guide the application of evidence-based interventions to these children.