Abstract
ObjectivesThe psychological distress caused by COVID-19 may be pronounced among the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to investigate psychological distress among parents of children with ASD during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA total of 1764 parents of children with ASD and 4962 parents of typically developing (TD) children were recruited. The participants completed an online survey which contained demographic information, the impact due to COVID-19 crisis, resilience, coping styles, anxiety and depression. Hierarchical linear regression was used to assess the contributions of these variables to anxiety and depression.ResultsAfter adjusting for demographic variables, the following factors were associated with parents’ anxiety and depression symptoms: (i) Whether or not the participants had a child with ASD; (ii) resilience; (iii) coping strategies, and; (iv) the impact due to COVID-19. Among these, the psychological stress caused by COVID-19 played the most important role in parental anxiety (β = 0.353) and depression (β = 0.242) symptoms. Parents of children with ASD had lower levels of resilience and positive coping, and used more negative coping strategies than parents of TD children. Among all participants, 8.0 and 24.2% of parents had symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively. Compared to parents of TD children, more parents of children with ASD exhibited symptoms of anxiety and depression (12.2% vs. 6.6%; 31.0% vs. 21.7%, respectively).ConclusionsDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, parents experienced varying levels of anxiety and depression, particularly, parents of children with ASD. More specific attention should be paid to parental mental health and long-term effective intervention programs, that are targeted towards parents of children with ASD, and such programs should be promoted around China in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Highlights
The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCov or COVID-19) refers to pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has spread rapidly around the world and poses a serious threat to global public health [1]
Descriptive statistics Among the 6726 participants who took part in this research, 1764 (26.2%) parents from the sample were from an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) family and 4962 (73.8%) parents were from a typically developing (TD) family
The parents of children with ASD scored significantly higher in the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) compared with parents of TD children (P < 0.001)
Summary
The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCov or COVID-19) refers to pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has spread rapidly around the world and poses a serious threat to global public health [1]. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the COVID-19 pandemic as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. From SARS, H1N1, MERS to COVID-19, public health emergencies place individual lives at risk, Wang et al Globalization and Health (2021) 17:23 but they adversely affect the mental health of individuals, eliciting, for example, fear, anxiety, depression and worries during, and even after, the outbreak of such epidemics [2,3,4,5]. The task of keeping children busy and safe at home is, in and of itself, a daunting challenge
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
