Parenting a Child with a Neurodevelopmental Disorder during the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantitative and Qualitative Cross-Cultural Findings.

Research during the COVID-19 pandemic has shown a strong relationship between child symptoms, parental stress, and mental health challenges. The pandemic has changed family routines, worsening child symptomatology and parental burden. The aim of this study was to investigate how the magnitude of the perceived changes in child externalizing behavior, parental stress, and discontinuity of therapy-from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic-affected parental mental health during the pandemic. Moreover, we sought to compare these aspects cross-culturally between European countries and the USA. To these purposes, we asked Italian, Spanish, and U.S. parents of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) to complete an online survey. Quantitative results showed that increased parental stress may have contributed to a worsening in parental psychological distress, regardless of culture. Moreover, they suggested an indirect effect of child externalizing behaviors on parents' psychological distress via parental stress. Qualitative analyses highlighted that the lack, or discontinuity, of therapeutic activities may have been one of the key contributors to parenting burden during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, qualitative results highlighted resilience factors that could have decreased the risk of psychological problems during the pandemic, such as a strong sense of parental efficacy and the ability to adapt to changing family dynamics.

Determinants of maternal stress during COVID-19 outbreak in Italy and Spain: A cross-cultural investigation.

The present study aims to investigate cross-cultural differences and similarities in maternal and children's adjustment to COVID-19 restrictions in Spain and Italy, with reference to determinants of maternal stress. A total of 950 mothers (45.4% from Spain, n = 432, Mage = 39.6, years old, SD = 5.2 and 54.5% from Italy, n = 518, Mage = 40.5, years, SD = 6.4) of children aged 3-17 years old completed questionnaires on sociodemographic and COVID-19 contextual factors, parenting-related variables, and children externalizing behaviors using an online survey. We examined determinants of parental stress in both countries. Mothers reported a significant increase in parental stress and child externalizing behaviors during COVID-19 home confinement, with more remarkable perceived changes in the Spanish group. Hierarchical linear regressions showed that child age and externalizing behaviors, maternal psychological distress, quality of coparenting and pre-COVID-19 levels of parental stress significantly predicted parental stress in both Italian and Spanish mothers during the pandemic. Results confirmed the negative psychological impact of COVID-19 home confinement on parents and children across countries and revealed common underlying factors responsible for parental stress in Italy and Spain. These findings highlighted the need for communitarian preventive programs to reduce mental health difficulties and parental stress in mothers and behavioral difficulties in children during pandemic restrictions. Particular attention should be paid to young mothers and children, and the key role of positive partner support and coparenting relationships should be considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Family adjustment to COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: Parental stress, coparenting, and child externalizing behavior.

Evidence of psychological distress in families during COVID-19 outbreak are arising. However, the perceived changes in psychological adjustment during home confinement with respect to the period before the pandemic have not been addressed yet. Moreover, little is known about the role of coparenting and specific COVID-19 contextual variables on parental stress and children's behavioral difficulties in the Italian context. Using a cross-sectional survey, we collected data on 841 Italian parents of children aged 3-11 years with typical development during the home confinement (20th April-18th May). We analyzed levels of parental stress, coparenting, and child externalizing behaviors before and during the home confinement. Additionally, hierarchical regressions were performed to investigate predictors of parental stress and child externalizing behaviors during the lockdown. Results showed that parental stress (especially in mothers) and child externalizing behaviors increased during the lockdown period. Coparenting was a strong predictor of parental stress, together with being a mother, younger child age, less time dedicated to the child, and scarce feasibility of remote working. Besides, child externalizing behaviors were predicted by male gender, less parental time dedicated to the child, higher parental stress, and child distance learning workload. Our findings indicate a negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown in both parents and children, suggesting that positive coparenting and time dedicated to children may help to reduce the detrimental effect of pandemic restrictions on family adjustment.

Están surgiendo datos sobre el distrés psicológico en las familias durante el brote de la COVID-19. Sin embargo, aún no se han abordado los cambios percibidos en la adaptación psicológica durante el confinamiento. Este estudio tuvo como finalidad investigar los cambios en los niveles de estrés de los padres, las dificultades conductuales de los niños y la cocrianza antes y durante el confinamiento en el hogar. Además, analizamos los factores pronósticos de estrés por la crianza y las conductas de exteriorización de los niños durante el confinamiento. Utilizando una encuesta representativa, recogimos datos sobre 841 padres italianos durante el confinamiento en el hogar (desde el 20 de abril hasta el 18 de mayo). Analizamos los niveles de estrés de los padres, la cocrianza y las conductas de exteriorización de los niños antes y durante el confinamiento. Se realizaron regresiones jerárquicas para investigar los factores pronósticos de estrés de los padres y las conductas de exteriorización de los niños durante el confinamiento. El estrés de los padres (especialmente de las madres) y las conductas de exteriorización de los niños aumentaron durante el periodo de confinamiento. La cocrianza se mantuvo estable y fue un factor pronóstico fuerte del estrés de los padres, junto con ser madre, niños más pequeños, menos tiempo dedicado al niño y escasa viabilidad de trabajar virtualmente. Las conductas de exteriorización de los niños fueron pronosticadas por el género masculino, menos tiempo de los padres dedicado al niño, un mayor estrés de los padres y la cantidad de actividades de la enseñanza a distancia del niño. Nuestros resultados indican un efecto negativo del confinamiento por la COVID-19 tanto en los padres como en los niños e indican que la cocrianza positiva y el tiempo dedicado a los niños pueden contribuir a reducir el efecto perjudicial de las restricciones de la pandemia en la adaptación familiar.

Psychological impact of Covid-19 pandemic in Italian families of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

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.