Nonweiler Jacqueline, Rattray Fiona, Baulcomb Jennifer, Happé Francesca, Absoud Michael
Department of Children's Neurosciences, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 7EH, UK.
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AH, UK.
Children (Basel). 2020 Sep 4;7(9):128. doi: 10.3390/children7090128.
Children and young people (CYP) with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) may be particularly vulnerable to adverse mental health effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional U.K. parent-reported study from 2nd April-2nd June 2020, using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. CYP with NDDs ( = 371), compared to neurotypical controls, had a higher prevalence of emotional symptoms (42% vs. 15%) and conduct problems (28% vs. 9%), and fewer prosocial behaviours (54% vs. 22%). All groups had worse emotional symptoms than pre-COVID groups, and those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder showed inflated conduct problems, while those with autism spectrum disorder exhibited decreased prosocial behaviours. Females with ASD had higher emotional symptoms compared to males. CYP with NDDs, and those without, showed higher levels of parent-reported mental health problems than comparable cohorts pre-COVID-19.
患有神经发育障碍（NDDs）的儿童和年轻人（CYP）可能因新冠疫情而特别容易受到不良心理健康影响。我们于2020年4月2日至6月2日在英国进行了一项横断面家长报告研究，使用长处与困难问卷。与神经发育正常的对照组相比，患有NDDs的CYP（n = 371）出现情绪症状（42%对15%）和行为问题（28%对9%）的比例更高，亲社会行为更少（54%对22%）。所有组的情绪症状都比疫情前的组更严重，患有注意力缺陷多动障碍的人行为问题更为突出，而患有自闭症谱系障碍的人亲社会行为减少。患有自闭症谱系障碍的女性与男性相比情绪症状更严重。患有NDDs的CYP和未患NDDs的CYP相比，家长报告的心理健康问题水平高于新冠疫情前的可比队列。
