For the Greater Good: Isolating Young Children From Their Own Mothers During COVID-19. Was It a Good Idea? An Empirical Study

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments enacted strict measures to stop the spread of the virus. Among these was the recommendation that children with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 be isolated in a room at home. Methods: Through a longitudinal study with three waves and using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, the Child Behavior Checklist 1,5-5, and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, we intended to verify whether young children and their mothers showed psychopathological symptoms and distress as a result of quarantine separation. Results: Our results showed that mothers' symptoms significantly increased from Time 1 to Time 2 and remained stable at Time 3, except for the anxious and depressive symptoms, which increased also at Time 3. Similarly, children's problems significantly increased from Time 1 to Time 2 and remained stable and high at Time 3. Discussion: This descriptive study may help policy makers to consider the negative outcomes of quarantine separation for children's and mothers' psychological well-being in case of future pandemics. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology is the property of Guilford Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Eating Disorders and Internalizing/Externalizing Symptoms in Adolescents before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at assessing the prevalence of eating disorders and symptoms of dieting, food preoccupation, and oral control and internalizing/externalizing problems in a group of adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A sample of N = 813 adolescents (age range = 14-15 years) was recruited in the general population and administered the SCOFF, EAT-26 and YSR questionnaires at two assessment points: before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and during it. RESULTS: In males and females, the YSR scores at T1 were significantly lower than T2, especially for the subscales of Withdrawn, Somatic complaints, Anxious/depressed, Social problems. As for the EAT-26 scores, adolescents scored significantly lower at T1 for all four subscales of dieting, food preoccupation and oral control. The prevalence of eating disorders among males and females increased respectively from 13.2% to 18.4% and from 17.5 to 25.3 from T1 to T2. CONCLUSION: This study confirms previous research showing an increase in eating disorders prevalence and higher psychopathological symptoms both in males and females adolescents during the pandemic.

Impact of Maternal-Newborn Separation in Italian Women with Suspected COVID-19 Infection on Psychopathological Symptoms and Quality of Interactions during Breastfeeding.

INTRODUCTION: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, proximity between mothers and their newborn infants was at the core of sanitary guidelines. With the aim of stopping the virus transmission from mothers to infants and possible physical dangers due to the infection, some hospitals discouraged or even prohibited skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding. METHOD: This study recruited 180 dyads in private and public hospitals in Italy with the aim of verifying whether mother-infant separation after delivery is associated with higher maternal psychopathological distress (assessed through the SCL-90-R) and poorer quality of dyadic interactions during breastfeeding (evaluated through the SVIA). RESULTS: Our results showed that mothers separated from their infants displayed more anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and a lower quality of feeding interactions on all the subscales of the SVIA (mother's affective state; interactive conflict; food refusal behavior; dyad's affective state). CONCLUSION: In light of these results, our study suggests that separating mothers from their newborns is associated with increased psychopathological symptoms in mothers and poorer feeding interactions. These issues have been posited as key predictors of maladaptive outcomes in infants' later lives; therefore, health services must fully consider the short- and long-term consequences of separating mothers and infants in their policies in the event of future pandemics.

Internet Addiction among Young Adult University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Peritraumatic Distress, Attachment, and Alexithymia.

The literature focused on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on young adult university students' mental health shows a significant increase in psychopathological symptoms and Internet Addiction (IA). The key role played by attachment and alexithymia has also been suggested, but no study has explored the possible dynamic relationship between these variables. We recruited a sample of n = 410 young adult university students online. We assessed the attachment to parents and peers (through IPPA), alexithymia (through TAS-20), peritraumatic distress symptoms due to COVID-19 (through CPDI), and IA (through IAT). The results showed that the relationship between the attachment to mothers and IA was partially mediated by alexithymia and by the serial mediation of alexithymia and peritraumatic distress, whereas the influence of the attachment to fathers on IA was fully mediated by peritraumatic distress. The direct effects of the attachment to peers on alexithymia, peritraumatic distress, and IA were all significant, as were the indirect paths via the simple mediation of both alexithymia and peritraumatic distress and the multiple serial mediation of alexithymia and peritraumatic distress. Our findings suggested that the relationship between attachment, alexithymia, and psychopathological risk is dynamic in predicting IA during the pandemic among young adult university students and that the different attachment figures exert a peculiar contribution to these processes.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on psychopathological symptoms in mothers and their school-age children before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic peak.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on children's and caregivers' mental health. We investigated psychopathological symptoms in a group of non-at-risk and a group of at-risk mothers and their school-age children from the pre-pandemic period to the lockdown period and to the post-lockdown period. We used the SCL-90/R to assess mothers' psychological symptoms, the CBCL 1½-5, and the CBCL 6-18 for the perceived children's emotional-behavioral functioning. Analysis of variance was conducted to assess significant differences in the groups over the three assessment points. Linear regressions were run to investigate the effect of maternal psychological symptoms on their children's functioning. In the non-at-risk group, maternal psychopathological symptoms significantly varied during the pandemic. Children's Aggression scores decreased after the lockdown, while Depression scores significantly increased during lockdown and after. The mothers in the at- risk group presented overall decreasing scores over the three assessment points. Children's Aggression scores did not increase during lockdown. Depression scores did not show significant changes over the three assessment points. Overall, our results showed that mothers' psychopathological risk did not influence specific areas of children's emotional/behavioral functioning, but it had an effect on the general offspring psychological well-being.

The Effect of a Telehealth Intervention on Mother-Child's Feeding Interactions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: This study evaluated the outcomes of a telehealth intervention aimed at enhancing exchanges in mother-child dyads who showed an impoverishment of the quality of their feeding interactions and a worsening of their psychopathological symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: N=334 mothers and their three-year-old children were recruited to assess their feeding interactions through an observational tool administered via a web platform, and maternal and offspring psychopathological symptoms were measured through the SCL/90-R and the CBCL 1.5-5. This study constitutes the third wave (T3) of a longitudinal research. Results: Our results showed that the intervention significantly improved the quality of mother-child feeding interactions. Moreover, mothers' psychopathological symptoms reduced after the intervention, especially in the interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive-compulsive subscales; offspring emotional/behavioral functioning and dysregulation symptoms also decreased, particularly in the subscales of withdrawn anxious/depressed attention problems and aggressive behavior. Conclusion: This study adds knowledge to the literature on COVID-19 pandemic effects on psychological health of parents and young children, proposing a method of intervention that had been effectively adopted previously but whose effectiveness had not been investigated during the pandemic.

A Study on Online Intervention for Early Childhood Eating Disorders during COVID-19.

Eating disorders are among the most common clinical manifestations in children, and they are frequently connected with maternal psychopathological risk, internalizing/externalizing problems in children, and poor quality of mother-child feeding exchanges. During the COVID-19 lockdown, in person assessment and intervention were impeded due to the indications of maintaining interpersonal distancing and by limits to travel. Therefore, web-based methods were adopted to meet patients' needs. In this study N = 278 participants completed the SCL-90/R and the CBCL to examine the psychopathological symptoms of mothers and children (age of the children = 24 months); moreover, the dyads were video-recorded during feeding and followed an online video-feedback based intervention. Maternal emotional state, interactive conflict, food refusal in children, and dyadic affective state all improved considerably, as did offspring internalizing/externalizing problems and mothers' depression, anxiety, and obsession-compulsion symptoms. This study showed that video-feedback web-based intervention might be employed successfully to yield considerable beneficial effects.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Families' Mental Health: The Role Played by Parenting Stress, Parents' Past Trauma, and Resilience.

International research has evidenced the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families, and the key role played by parenting stress levels. Although significant associations with parents' past trauma and resilience have been shown, this study aimed to explore their complex interplay on the relationship between parents' peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19, parenting stress, and children's psychopathological difficulties. We recruited 353 parents with children aged two to 16 years via an online survey during the Italian second wave of COVID-19. Parents' peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19, parenting stress, past trauma and resilience, and children's psychological difficulties were assessed through self-report and report-form questionnaires. Parents' past traumas significantly predicted peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19 and children's psychological difficulties. The relationship between past traumas and children's psychological difficulties was serial mediated by parents' peritraumatic distress and parenting stress. Direct and total effects of parent's resilience on parent's peritraumatic distress were not significant, but there were significant indirect effects via parenting stress and via parents' peritraumatic distress and parenting stress, indicating inconsistent mediation. This study evidenced the key risk and protective role played by, respectively, parents' past traumas exposure and resilience on the relationship between parents' psychological difficulties due to COVID-19, parenting stress, and children's psychological difficulties, with important clinical implications.

How Does Psychological Distress Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Internet Addiction and Instagram Addiction in Emerging Adults?

International research has underlined a worrying increase in Internet and Instagram addiction among emerging adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the role played by alexithymia and psychological distress due to COVID-19 has been evidenced, no study has explored their complex relationship in predicting emerging adults' Internet and Instagram addiction. The present study aimed to verify whether peritraumatic distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic mediated the relationship between emerging adults' alexithymia and their Internet/Instagram addiction, in a sample composed of n = 400 Italian emerging adults. Results showed that females had higher peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19 than males, whereas males had higher externally oriented thinking and higher levels of Internet addiction than females. Emerging adults' psychological distress due to COVID-19 significantly mediated the effect of alexithymia on Internet and Instagram addiction. Our findings supported the presence of a dynamic relationship between individual vulnerabilities and the co-occurrence of other psychological difficulties in predicting emerging adults' Internet and Instagram addiction during the pandemic, with important clinical implications.

The Capacity to Be Alone Moderates Psychopathological Symptoms and Social Networks Use in Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents could not leave their house freely, meet up with friends, or attend school; previous literature showed that youths under enforced confinement or quarantine were five times more likely to suffer from psychopathological symptoms and use social networks sites (SNs) greatly. This study aimed to verify whether the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship could predict youths' psychopathological symptoms and their SN use during the pandemic, and to evaluate the possible moderator role of their the capacity to be alone. Seven hundred and thirty-nine (n = 739) adolescents were recruited from the general population during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy, and they were administered The Capacity to be Alone Scale, The BSMAS, the YSR, and the Perceived Filial Self-efficacy Scale. Our results confirmed a direct effect of the perceived filial self-efficacy on the psychopathological symptoms so that a poorer perceived quality of the relationship with the caregivers predicted higher psychopathological symptoms in youths. Moreover, greater social networks use was predictive of psychopathological symptoms in adolescents. Our results also showed a significant interaction effect between adolescents' perceived filial efficacy and the capacity to be alone on SN use and on psychopathological symptoms. These results suggest that youths' response to the confinement during the pandemic is influenced both by individual characteristics (the capacity to be alone) and by relational variables (the perceived filial self-efficacy).

Late Adolescents' Attachment to Parents and Peers and Psychological Distress Resulting from COVID-19. A Study on the Mediation Role of Alexithymia.

The scientific literature has shown the key role played by attachment to parents and peers and difficulties in recognizing, processing, and regulating emotions (i.e., alexithymia) in the (mal-)adaptive psychological response to the COVID-19 pandemic during late adolescence. No study has yet explored the complex interplay between these variables. We recruited a sample of 454 late adolescents (Mage = 22.79, SD = 2.27) and assessed attachment to parents and peers, alexithymia, and peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19 through self-report instruments. Attachment to fathers and peers, but not to mothers, and alexithymia significantly predicted levels of peritraumatic distress. Alexithymia fully and partially mediated the effect of, respectively, attachment to mothers and attachment to peers on peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19. These findings suggested that intervention programs focused on the promotion of peer social relationships, supportive parent-adolescent relationships, and the ability to recognize and discriminate one's own and others' emotions are needed in helping late adolescents to face the current health emergency and preventing short- and long-term psychopathological consequences related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychological Adjustment of Healthcare Workers in Italy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences in Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Burnout, Secondary Trauma, and Compassion Satisfaction between Frontline and Non-Frontline Professionals.

Emergency situations have been associated with negative psychological adjustment outcomes in healthcare professionals, although studies on the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic amongst Italian health workers are limited. The main aim of this study was to investigate the psychological adjustment of healthcare professionals during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluating differences according to working or not with patients affected by COVID-19 and in areas with a more severe spread of this pandemic. Healthcare professionals' attitudes toward psychological support were analyzed. The levels of anxiety, depression, psychological stress, and professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue) and attitudes toward psychological support were measured among 627 Italian healthcare workers (mean age = 40.55 years; SD = 11.49; range: 27-72). Significantly higher levels of stress, burnout, secondary trauma, anxiety, and depression were observed among professionals working with COVID-19 patients. Higher levels of stress and burnout and lower levels of compassion satisfaction were detected in professionals working in areas with higher rates of contagion. No interaction effects were found between working (or not) with patients affected by COVID-19 and working (or not) in areas with a more severe diffusion of this pandemic. Finally, in the group of professionals who worked with COVID-19 patients, the percentage of professionals who thought to ask for psychological support was twice that of the group that did not work with COVID-19 patients. The overall findings indicate that the mental health of frontline healthcare workers requires further consideration and that targeted prevention and intervention programs are necessary.