Differences in emotional state and autistic symptoms before and during confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Agustín E Martínez-González, Beatriz Moreno-Amador, José A Piqueras
PMID 34293632WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers reported more anxiety, aggression, irritability and hyperactivity in autistic individuals during COVID confinement than in neurotypical controls.
Repetitive behaviour was higher than in an earlier autistic group. Communication scores did not clearly change. This does not prove cause.
Key findings
01Caregivers reported more aggression, irritability, hyperactivity and impulsivity, lack of attention, anxiety and anticipatory anxiety in autistic individuals during confinement than in neurotypical controls.
02During confinement, caregivers reported higher fear, depression, aggression, hyperactivity and anxiety than before confinement; irritability and attention did not show a clear difference.
03The pandemic-era autistic group had higher repetitive, restrictive and stereotyped behaviour and total SCQ-B scores than a 2018 autistic group, while social interaction and communication scores did not show a clear difference.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study did not test an intervention, so it cannot show that confinement caused the reported changes. The sample was small, especially the 11 neurotypical controls, and the pandemic and 2018 autistic groups were different people. Caregivers reported behaviour after the confinement period, so recall and current stress may have influenced the ratings. The emotional-state measure was developed ad hoc rather than being a standardised clinical instrument. Several comparisons were not clear, including fear and depression versus controls and social interaction and communication versus the 2018 group.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that confinement caused the higher symptoms. The study compared caregiver reports across different groups and times, without a randomised treatment, so it cannot show cause.