Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Parenting in Families with Autistic and ADHD Children Compared with Families with Neurotypical Children.

Abstract

Background: This study was designed to compare the parenting frequencies from the perspective of mothers in the three groups of children with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and without disease.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 241 families consisting of 81 families in the autism group, 81 families in the ADHD group, and 79 families in the normal group. The interview consisted of questions asking about the rates of reward and punishment used before and after the lockdown. We further questioned the relationship between parents in these families and also used the general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess mothers' mental health. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 25.

Results: Analyzing the data revealed that the rate of reward has decreased significantly during the pandemic in all study groups (P=0.002). The rate of punishment was also increased in most ADHD families but did not show any change in autism and normal families after the quarantine. We also reported that in the ASD group, most parents had experienced a decline in their relationship (P=0.011). Mothers of ADHD children had a significantly lower mental health score (mean score of 13.15±6.32) compared with mothers with ASD children (mean score of 13.94±4.72) and mothers of neurotypical children (mean score of 14.05±4.66) (P=0.036).

Conclusion: In conclusion, quarantine and semi-quarantine situations could cause changes among families, such as changes in parenting styles (including the rate of using physical punishment), relationships between parents, or even parents' mental health.