Stress symptoms and resilience factors in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This study examined the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italy by specifically looking at the psychosocial response of children/adolescents with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) and their parents, and explored which factors could potentially contribute to increasing or mitigating stress-related behaviors in children/adolescents as well as their parents’ stress. Method: An online anonymous survey was designed to investigate family demographic characteristics, COVID-19 outbreak and restriction-related variables, children/adolescents’ behavioral regulation problems, parental stress, and resilience. Data were collected from 1,472 parents (83.1% mothers) of 1632 NDD children/adolescents (33.7% females). Results: Compared to pre-emergency, parents reported a significant increase in their children’s behavioral regulation problems: Anxious/depressed behavior, Attention problems, and Aggressive behavior (p,.001), and they reported feeling more Overwhelmed and Burdened (p,.001) as parents but less Unfulfilled, Numbness, Devastated, and Angry (p,.001). A hierarchical stepwise regression analysis revealed that both behavioral regulation problems in NDD children/adolescents and parental stress are—at least partially—buffered by resilience factors in parents (Perception of self, Planned future, Family cohesion). Conclusions: Results showed that behavioral regulation problems in children/adolescents with NDD and parental stress increased. However, parental resilience can act as a protective factor, counterbalancing parental difficulties in the care of their NDD children during the emergency. Identifying risk and protective factors impacting the psychosocial response ofchildren/adolescents with NDD and their parents is essential to implement appropriate support interventions both for parents and children/adolescents with NDD during the COVID-19 pandemic