Psychological distress and burden among family caregivers of children with and without developmental disabilities six months into the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emily A Iovino, Jacqueline Caemmerer, Sandra M Chafouleas
PMID 33964709WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of children with autism or ADHD reported higher anxiety, depression, stress and burden than those without DD six months into the pandemic.
Scores did not worsen over time. For caregivers of children without DD, losing self-care opportunities drove distress; for ASD/ADHD caregivers it did not.
Key findings
01Six months into the pandemic, caregivers of children with ASD/ADHD had significantly higher anxiety, depression, stress and burden scores than caregivers of children without DD, even after controlling for other factors.
02For caregivers of children without DD, decreased self-care opportunities predicted higher anxiety, depression and stress, but this link was not significant for caregivers of children with ASD/ADHD.
03Across both groups, being the sole provider of care predicted higher anxiety, depression and caregiver burden.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was predominantly White, highly educated, and had incomes well above the US poverty line, limiting generalizability to more diverse socioeconomic groups. All data was self-reported, which is subject to bias and response distortion. Child diagnoses and severity of behavioural challenges were reported by caregivers and not verified by clinical records or independent assessment. The study observed associations, not causation, so it cannot prove that specific factors caused the distress.
Declared interests
The study was funded by a seed grant from the University of Connecticut’s Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the higher distress scores in the ASD/ADHD group as evidence that the pandemic caused a new crisis for them specifically. The study found no significant change in scores over the six-month period for either group, and the higher baseline distress in the ASD/ADHD group is consistent with pre-pandemic literature.