Differences in emotional state and autistic symptoms before and during confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 lockdowns quickly worsened aggression, anxiety, and repetitive behaviors in autistic youth while sparing neurotypical peers.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Adams et al. (2021) compared the same people before and during COVID-19 lockdown.
They looked at kids and adults with autism and at neurotypical peers.
Parents filled out forms about mood, behavior, and autism traits.
What they found
Lockdown made aggression, anxiety, and repetitive behaviors jump in the autism group.
The neurotypical group stayed about the same.
The change was large enough to see without any fancy stats.
How this fits with other research
Vassos et al. (2023) saw the same jump in Canadian families, so the effect is not just one country.
Sutton et al. (2022) found that Italian young adults lost daily-living skills after lockdown, showing the harm lasts past childhood.
Lugo-Marín et al. (2021) looks like the opposite story: they saw small mental-health gains in autistic adults and Level-2 youth during lockdown. The gap is age and severity. Teens who crave routine and adults who hate social small talk actually felt relief when the world slowed down.
Romero et al. (2024) add a warning: kids who already struggled with shifting or stopping actions were the ones who got the most anxious once schools closed.
Why it matters
You now have solid proof that sudden routine loss can spike problem behavior. Build extra visual schedules, choice boards, and calm-down kits before the next crisis hits. Check executive-function skills now; weak flexibility predicts bigger meltdowns later. If you serve older or less socially driven clients, reduced demands might help them, so keep some low-pressure remote options in your toolbox.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a global crisis that has affected the emotional health of both the general and the clinical population. METHOD: The present study aimed to analyze the differences between the emotional states of a group of individuals with ASD and a neurotypical group both during and after the COVID-19 confinement. The study also examined the changes in autistic symptoms between a group of individuals with ASD who were confined during the COVID-19 pandemic and another group of individuals with ASD who were studied prior to the COVID-19 pandemic period. RESULTS: Higher levels of aggression, irritability, hyperactivity and impulsivity, lack of attention and anxiety, among other symptoms, were found in individuals with ASD during confinement when compared to healthy controls (p < .05; p < .01). Higher levels of repetitive, restrictive, and stereotyped behaviors were also found in pandemic-era ASD individuals when compared to the group of individuals with ASD who were assessed prior to the pandemic (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: the confinement is related to an increase in symptomatology and dysfunctional behaviours characteristic of ASD, and therefore it is necessary to implement actions that help to reduce this impact now, as well as in future crisis events.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.30773/pi.2020.0047