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Psychological impact of covid-19 outbreak on families of children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing peers: An online survey
- Source :
- Brain Sciences, Volume 11, Issue 6, Brain Sciences, Vol 11, Iss 808, p 808 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Background: When COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic, many countries imposed severe lockdowns that changed families’ routines and negatively impacted on parents’ and children’s mental health. Several studies on families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) revealed that lockdown increased the difficulties faced by individuals with ASD, as well as parental distress. No studies have analyzed the interplay between parental distress, children’s emotional responses, and adaptive behaviors in children with ASD considering the period of the mandatory lockdown. Furthermore, we compared families with children on the spectrum and families with typically developing (TD) children in terms of their distress, children’s emotional responses, and behavioral adaptation. Methods: In this study, 120 parents of children aged 5–10 years (53 with ASD) participated. Results: In the four tested models, children’s positive and negative emotional responses mediated the impact of parental distress on children’s playing activities. In the ASD group, parents reported that their children expressed more positive emotions, but fewer playing activities, than TD children. Families with children on the spectrum reported greater behavioral problems during the lockdown and more parental distress. Conclusions: Our findings inform the interventions designed for parents to reduce distress and to develop coping strategies to better manage the caregiver–child relationship.
- Subjects :
- Adaptive behavior
Mediation (statistics)
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Psychological intervention
Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Settore M-PSI/04 - Psicologia dello Sviluppo e Psicologia dell'Educazione
Article
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
mental disorders
Lockdown
medicine
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Adaptive behavior, Autism spectrum disorder, Children, COVID-19, Emotion responses, Lockdown, Mediation, Parental distress, Survey, Typically developing
Autism spectrum disorder
Emotion responses
Survey
Children
General Neuroscience
05 social sciences
Mediation
Outbreak
COVID-19
Typically developing
medicine.disease
Mental health
Parental distress
Distress
Psychology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
050104 developmental & child psychology
Clinical psychology
RC321-571
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Brain Sciences, Volume 11, Issue 6, Brain Sciences, Vol 11, Iss 808, p 808 (2021)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....46d98c48803fcba3c1b0422fdd0bed2e