Anxiety and Worries of Individuals with Down Syndrome During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Study in the UK.
V Sideropoulos, H Kye, D Dukes and 3 others
PMID 35106684WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers reported that children with Down syndrome had lower anxiety than those with other special needs, but anxiety still rose significantly during the pandemic.
Children with Down syndrome worried less about boredom and finances, but more about social approach, compared to peers.
Key findings
01Children with Down syndrome reported lower overall anxiety levels than children with other special educational needs, but similar levels to typically developing siblings.
02Anxiety increased significantly from pre-pandemic to the start of the pandemic in all groups, including those with Down syndrome, and did not decrease by early 2021.
03For children with Down syndrome, existing health problems, awareness of COVID-19, and a prior diagnosis of an anxiety disorder were significant predictors of higher anxiety levels.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
Data was collected via caregiver report rather than self-report from the individuals with Down syndrome. Anxiety was measured using non-standardised questions. The sample size for some subgroups, particularly those with a pre-existing anxiety diagnosis in the Down syndrome group, was small (n=6). The study design was cross-sectional, so changes over time rely on retrospective recall.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Baily Thomas Charitable Fund and the Swiss National Science Foundation. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that lower baseline anxiety in Down syndrome means these individuals are unaffected by the pandemic. Anxiety levels rose significantly in this group, and caregivers reported higher anxiety themselves, which may influence perceptions of the child's state.