Abstract
On 11 March 2020, a national lockdown was imposed by the Italian government to contain the spread of COVID19 disease. This is an observational longitudinal study conducted at Fondazione Stella Maris (FSM), Italy to investigate lockdown-related emotional and behavioural changes in paediatric neuropsychiatric population. Families having children (1.5–18 years) with neuropsychiatric disorders referred to FSM have been contacted and proposed to fulfil two online questionnaires (General questionnaire and Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL)) to (i) compare (paired two-sample t-tests) the CBCL scores during lockdown with previous ones, and (ii) investigate the influence (multiple linear regression models) of variables such as age, diagnosis grouping (neurological, neurodevelopmental, emotional, and behavioural disorders) and financial hardship. One hundred and forty-one parents fulfilled the questionnaires. Anxiety and somatic problems increased in 1.5–5 years subpopulation, while obsessive-compulsive, post-traumatic and thought problems increased in 6–18 years subpopulation. In the regression models, younger age in the 1.5–5 years subpopulation resulted as “protective” while financial hardship experienced by families during lockdown was related to psychiatric symptoms increasing in the 6–18 years subpopulation. Some considerations, based on first clinical impressions, are provided in text together with comments in relation to previous and emerging literature on the topic.
Highlights
In order to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 disease, defined as a global pandemic by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO), on 11 March 2020 a national quarantine was imposed by the Italian government until 3rd June
In order to extrapolate the emotional and behavioural changes, measures of T-Scores for the subscales included in the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) at two time-points were obtained and compared through paired two-sample t-tests, whose use is justified through the central limit theorem
The covariates considered in the models are the weekly average hours of treatment pre-lockdown declared by the respondent, the age in years of the patient, the parents’ financial hardship during the lockdown period, and three not mutually exclusive diagnosis groupings: “Neurological Disorders”, “Emotional and Behavioural Disorders”, and “Neurodevelopmental Disorders”
Summary
In order to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 disease, defined as a global pandemic by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO), on 11 March 2020 a national quarantine was imposed by the Italian government until 3rd June. H1N1 flu, Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome and equine influenza pandemics, were carried out in adult individuals [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11], on healthcare workers [12,13,14,15], in school communities [16,17], on people who had been in contact with infected individuals [18,19], and on adult workers [20,21,22,23] In these studies, mood deflection and an increase in depression and anxiety are the most frequently reported psychopathological features in the general adult population, while post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was reported in health workers.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
