Stress symptoms and resilience factors in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study examined the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italy by specifically looking at the psychosocial response of children/adolescents with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) and their parents, and explored which factors could potentially contribute to increasing or mitigating stress-related behaviors in children/adolescents as well as their parents’ stress. Method: An online anonymous survey was designed to investigate family demographic characteristics, COVID-19 outbreak and restriction-related variables, children/adolescents’ behavioral regulation problems, parental stress, and resilience. Data were collected from 1,472 parents (83.1% mothers) of 1632 NDD children/adolescents (33.7% females). Results: Compared to pre-emergency, parents reported a significant increase in their children’s behavioral regulation problems: Anxious/depressed behavior, Attention problems, and Aggressive behavior (p
Source: Health Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research