Association between screen usage and two core symptom changes in children with autism during Covid-19: A study in Italy

Abstract

As a result of covid-19, children with autism have experienced a substantial increase in screen time at home. This study delves into a dataset from Italy, exploring the impact of the severity of a child's doctor's diagnosis of autism on the child's choice of online activities and on the improvement of social interaction and behavioral problems. Results showed that television viewing was most strongly associated with these core symptoms, and that most children with varying severity of symptoms showed some improvement in social interaction and behavioral problems through watching TV.