The long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with ADHD in terms of participation, support, and barriers at home.
Ozgun Kaya Kara, Sebahat Yaprak Cetin, Duygu Turker and 3 others
PMID 37023560WHAT IT FOUND
Parent-reported home participation showed children with ADHD played computer and video games more often than non-ADHD peers, but participated less in arts, crafts, music, hobbies, school preparation, and homework.
Parents reported cognitive demands as a home barrier.
Key findings
01Children with ADHD participated in computer and video games at home significantly more often than children without ADHD.
02Children without ADHD had higher mean frequency of participation in arts, crafts, music, hobbies, school preparation, and homework at home.
03Parents reported cognitive demands as a barrier to home participation for children with ADHD, but as helpful or not an issue for children without ADHD.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that the pandemic caused the differences or that participation changed from before the pandemic to after restrictions. The measure was parent-reported, so differences may reflect parents' perceptions or reporting style rather than the child's actual participation. The non-ADHD group was recruited from neighbours, relatives, and family friends, which may introduce selection bias. The ADHD and non-ADHD groups differed in family characteristics, including number of siblings, parental marital status, urban residence, and family income, which may be related to home participation. The study focused on the home setting, so it does not show how these children participate at school or in the community.
Declared interests
The authors declared no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the pandemic caused these home participation differences or that reducing video game time will improve ADHD outcomes. The study was a cross-sectional parent-report comparison of children with ADHD and non-ADHD peers during March to September 2022, so it does not measure change over time or test an intervention.