COVID-19 Pandemic: 1-Year Follow-Up in Children and Adolescents with Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Grazia Maria Giovanna Pastorino, Marianna Marino, Salvatore Aiello, Raffaella D’Auria, Rosaria Meccariello (), Antonietta Santoro, Andrea Viggiano and Francesca Felicia Operto
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Grazia Maria Giovanna Pastorino: Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Via S. Allende, 84081 Baronissi, Italy
Marianna Marino: Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Via S. Allende, 84081 Baronissi, Italy
Salvatore Aiello: Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Via S. Allende, 84081 Baronissi, Italy
Raffaella D’Auria: Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Via S. Allende, 84081 Baronissi, Italy
Rosaria Meccariello: Dipartimento di Scienze Motorie e del Benessere, Università di Napoli Parthenope, Via Medina 40, 80133 Napoli, Italy
Antonietta Santoro: Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Via S. Allende, 84081 Baronissi, Italy
Andrea Viggiano: Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Via S. Allende, 84081 Baronissi, Italy
Francesca Felicia Operto: Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, Via S. Allende, 84081 Baronissi, Italy

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: Introduction: Few studies have focused on the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. The objective of our work was to evaluate the changes in emotional and behavioral symptoms in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and the impact on parenting stress 1 year after the first national lockdown. Methods: We enrolled 369 patients aged 1.5–18 years of age referred to the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit of the University Hospital of Salerno (Italy) by their parents. We asked their parents to complete two standardized questionnaires for the assessment of emotional/behavioral symptoms (Child Behavior CheckList, CBCL) and parental stress (Parenting Stress Index, PSI) prior to the pandemic (Time 0), during the first national lockdown (Time 1) and after 1 year (Time 2), and we monitored the changes in symptoms over time. Results: After 1 year from the start of the first national lockdown, we found a significant increase of internalizing problems, anxiety, depression, somatization, and social and oppositional-defiant problems in older children (6–18 years), and a significant increase of somatization, anxiety problems, and sleep problems in younger children (1.5–5 years). We also observed a significant relationship between emotional/behavioral symptoms and parental stress. Conclusion: Our study showed that parental stress levels increased compared to the pre-pandemic months and continues to persist over time, while internalizing symptoms of children and adolescents showed a significant worsening during 1 year follow-up from the first COVID-19 lockdown.

Keywords: COVID-19; neuropsychiatric disorders; children; adolescents; emotional behavioral symptoms; parental stress; follow-up (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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