Caregivers’ Difficulty in Managing Smartphone Use of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relationships with Caregiver and Children Factors

Jia-In Lee, Ray C. Hsiao, Ching-Shu Tsai and Cheng-Fang Yen
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Jia-In Lee: Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan
Ray C. Hsiao: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
Ching-Shu Tsai: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan
Cheng-Fang Yen: Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 80756, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: This study examined the difficulty encountered by caregivers of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in managing children’s smartphone use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the caregiver- and children-related factors that influence this difficulty. In total, 252 caregivers of children with ADHD were recruited into this study. The caregivers completed a research questionnaire to provide data regarding the difficulty they encountered in managing the smartphone use of children during the COVID-19 pandemic, their general mental health and parenting styles, and the ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms of the children they are caring for. The results indicated that almost 45% of the caregivers of children with ADHD sometimes or often found it difficult to manage the smartphone use of children with ADHD during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the caregivers, a short duration of education, poor general mental health, unaffectionate/uncaring and overprotective parenting styles, older children, and inattention and ODD symptoms were significantly associated with increased difficulty in managing their children’s smartphone use during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the basis of the relevant factors identified in this study, an intervention should be developed to enhance the skills of caregivers of children with ADHD with respect to the management of children’s smartphone use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; caregiver; COVID-19; smartphone use; psychological well-being (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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