Neuropediatric Section, Pediatric Clinic, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, Pisa, 56100, Italy; Occupational Health Department, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy.
J Psychiatr Res. 2021 Mar;135:256-263. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.024. Epub 2021 Jan 21.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic pointed out new burdens for researchers on mental health and that evidence-based (EB) studies on vulnerable populations are timely needed. The present paper aims at analysing the impact of suspicious of SARS-COV-2 infection in a cohort of parents presented at 3 major hospitals (spread between north and center of Italy) during the Italian COVID-19 pandemic phase 1.
Participants of the present cross-sectional, multicenter study were parental couples of children suspected to have COVID-19 who underwent testing with nasopharyngeal swabbing. All subjects were assessed by means of the: Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in order to evaluate Post-traumatic stress (PTSS), anxiety, and depressive symptoms, respectively.
Results evidenced that parents whose children tested positive for COVID-19 were more prone to developing PTSS, anxiety and depressive symptoms. The same results emerged for parents who had quarantined as opposed to those who had not. Moreover, patients who suffered economic damage showed a higher prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms, whereas PTSS was more common among unemployed subjects and among mothers.
This study identified a mental health strain represented by parenting a child who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further EB research is needed to develop evidence-driven strategies to reduce adverse psychological impacts and related psychiatric symptoms in caregivers of COVID-19 infected children during the next phases of the pandemic.
最近的 COVID-19 大流行给研究人员带来了新的心理健康负担，因此及时需要对弱势群体进行基于证据（EB）的研究。本文旨在分析意大利 COVID-19 大流行 1 期期间，在意大利北部和中部 3 家主要医院就诊的疑似 SARS-COV-2 感染患儿的父母队列中，怀疑感染 SARS-COV-2 对其的影响。
本横断面多中心研究的参与者为疑似患有 COVID-19 的儿童的父母对，他们接受了鼻咽拭子检测。所有受试者均通过使用修订后的事件影响量表（IES-R）、广泛性焦虑症 7 项量表（GAD-7）和患者健康问卷-9（PHQ-9）进行评估，以分别评估创伤后应激（PTSS）、焦虑和抑郁症状。
研究结果表明，其子女 COVID-19 检测呈阳性的父母更容易出现 PTSS、焦虑和抑郁症状。与未隔离的父母相比，隔离的父母也出现了同样的结果。此外，遭受经济损失的患者表现出更高的焦虑和抑郁症状，而失业者和母亲中更常见的是 PTSS。
本研究确定了一种由 SARS-CoV-2 感染阳性患儿的养育带来的心理健康压力。需要进一步进行 EB 研究，以制定循证策略，以减轻大流行的下一阶段中 COVID-19 感染儿童的照顾者的不良心理影响和相关的精神科症状。
