Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents with Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Emotional/Behavioral Symptoms and Parental Stress

Francesca Felicia Operto, Giangennaro Coppola, Valentina Vivenzio, Chiara Scuoppo, Chiara Padovano, Valeria de Simone, Rosetta Rinaldi, Gilda Belfiore, Gianpiero Sica, Lucia Morcaldi, Floriana D’Onofrio, Miriam Olivieri, Serena Donadio, Michele Roccella, Marco Carotenuto, Andrea Viggiano and Grazia Maria Giovanna Pastorino
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Francesca Felicia Operto: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Giangennaro Coppola: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Valentina Vivenzio: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Chiara Scuoppo: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Chiara Padovano: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Valeria de Simone: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Rosetta Rinaldi: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Gilda Belfiore: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Gianpiero Sica: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Salerno, Via Nizza 146, 84124 Salerno, Italy
Lucia Morcaldi: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Floriana D’Onofrio: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Miriam Olivieri: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Serena Donadio: Department of Psychology, Educational and Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Michele Roccella: Department of Psychology, Educational and Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Marco Carotenuto: Clinic of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Mental Health, Physical and Preventive Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80100 Naples, Italy
Andrea Viggiano: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
Grazia Maria Giovanna Pastorino: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional and behavioral symptoms in minors with neuropsychiatric disorders and on parental stress through a standardized neuropsychological assessment, comparing the data collected before the pandemic with those collected during the lock-down. Another goal of our study was to analyze the relationship between parental stress and behavioral/emotional symptoms in children. Our study was conducted on 383 families of patients who had already been referred at the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit of the University Hospital of Salerno for different neuropsychiatric conditions. All the parents completed two neuropsychological standardized questionnaires for the assessment of parental stress (PSI—Parenting Stress Index-Short Form) and the emotional/behavioral problems of their children (Child Behaviour CheckList). The data collected during the pandemic were compared with those collected from questionnaires administered during the six months preceding the pandemic, as is our usual clinical practice. The comparison between the mean scores of PSI and CBCL before and after the pandemic showed a statistically significant increase in all subscales analyzed in the total sample. The correlation analysis showed significant positive relationship between the subscale Total Stress of PSI and the subscales Total Problems and Internalizing Problems of CBCL. Our study suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding measures adopted led to an increase in internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children and adolescents with neuropsychiatric disorder. Similarly, parental stress increased during COVID-19 and ahigher level of stress in parents can be related to the internalizing symptoms of their children.

Keywords: COVID-19; neuropsychiatric disorders; children; adolescents; emotional behavioral symptoms; parental stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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