Psychological impact of Covid-19 pandemic in Italian families of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Italian families saw child problem behavior spike when COVID-19 closed clinics, but telehealth parent-training studies show we can prevent that same spike next time.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team sent an online survey to 607 Italian families. All families had a child with autism, ADHD, or another neurodevelopmental disorder.
Parents answered questions about stress, child behavior, and therapy hours before and during lockdown. The survey ran from April to May 2020.
What they found
When clinics closed, therapy hours dropped by half. Parent stress rose sharply. Child tantrums, hitting, and non-compliance also rose.
The families who lost the most therapy time saw the biggest behavior jumps.
How this fits with other research
Vlachou et al. (2023) asked Greek parents the same questions and got the same answer: less help, more stress. The match shows the problem crossed borders.
Perez et al. (2015) and Gevarter et al. (2021) show the fix. In both studies, parents met a BCBA on Zoom, learned FCT or naturalistic teaching, and cut problem behavior by a large share or boosted child communication turns.
Together the papers draw a clear line: lost therapy hurts, but short telehealth parent coaching restores gains.
Why it matters
You can’t prevent future lockdowns, snow days, or staff shortages. You can give parents a back-up plan. Schedule one Zoom parent-training session each month. Teach two communication or FCT skills. Send a short video model. This small step keeps services alive when the clinic door closes.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research on the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted negative effects on the general population and particularly on parents. However, little is known about families of children with Neurodevelopmental Disorder (NDD). The present study investigated parental stress, coparenting, and child adjustment in Italian families with children with NDD (N = 82) and typical developing children (TD, N = 82) during lockdown, using an online survey. Results of quantitative analyses showed a significant increase in parental stress and child externalizing behaviors, but not of coparenting. Parental stress is predicted by externalizing behaviors, and coparenting acted as a moderator in the relationship between the change in the amount of time spent with the children before and during lockdown and parental stress. In children with NDD, the decrease in therapeutic/rehabilitation support predicted higher externalizing behaviors. Qualitative analysis showed that beyond the difficulties and worries arising during lockdown, most of the parents appreciated the opportunity of spending more time with their children and strengthening the parent-child relationship. In conclusion, our results point out the importance of ensuring continuity of care for children with NDD (e.g. telehealth) during home confinement and of providing psychological support for parents.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.08.003