Concerns and stress among autistic and neurotypical adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

• In Event: Vulnerable Children and Families in COVID-19: Risks and Resilience

Abstract

Introduction: Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, characterized by difficulties in social communication and unusually restricted or repetitive behavior and interests (APA, 2013). Autistic individuals typically find disturbance to routines as aversive and disruptive (Glass, 2001). Therefore, they might be affected especially by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this might exacerbate symptoms of stress and anxiety, which are more prevalent in autistic individuals as compared to neurotypicals (Gillott, Furniss & Walter, 2001). The current study aimed to examine the psychological implications of COVID-19 in adolescents with and without autism diagnosis.
Method: 144 parents of 10-16-year-old adolescents (mean age 13.2 years, N=51 autistic) participated in the study. Data was collected July-September 2020, two months after the first lockdown due to the COVID-19 was removed and right before a second lockdown, as cases began to rise. Parent and self-report (N=130 children, mean age=13.7, N=37 autistic) regarding the children's concerns following the pandemic using a 16-item questionnaire, the COVID-19 Adolescent Symptom and Psychological Experience Questionnaire (CASPE; Pfeifer et al., 2020). Exploratory factor analysis on the entire sample showed best fit for four factors (see Table 1). These factors were used as predictor variables. Additionally, parent and child-report were collected regarding children's level of stress and negative impact (NE) of the pandemic on daily-life (dependent variables).
Results: Two one-way ANOVA analyses showed that autistic adolescents experienced higher levels of stress and NE, based on parent-report, but not self-report (see Table 2). Interestingly, while in the complete sample, parent- and self-report stress (r(111)=.311, p=.0009) and NE (r(111)=.237, p=.0123) were positively correlated, in the autism-group they did not (r(37)=.167, p=.323, (r(37)=.249, p=.137; stress and NE, respectively), the effect driven by the neurotypical group (r(74)=.380, p=.0009, r(74)=.241, p=.0387 stress and NE, respectively).
One-way ANOVA analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between group means regarding any of the concern factors, suggesting similar levels of concern for neurotypical and autistic adolescents. Linear regression showed that sex (beta=.304, p=.0001), diagnosis (beta=-.258, p=.0011); and concerns about family relationships (beta=.251 p=.0082) were significant predictors of parent-reported stress. Conversely, only sex (beta=.275, p=.0037) and concerns about family relationships predicted self-reported stress (beta=.318 p=.0051). In a linear regression to predict NE using parent-report the following were significant: sex (beta=.174, p=.0232); diagnosis (beta=-.316 p=.00004); health-concerns (beta=.203 p=.0264); and concerns about family relationships (beta=.206 p=.0251). Conversely, only sex (beta=.267, p=.0087) and concerns about family relationships (beta=.259 p=.0331) predicted self-reported NE. Age was controlled for in all analyses, but was not significant.
Conclusions: Autistic adolescents are at increased risk for experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety, yet our findings show that autistic and neurotypical adolescents show similar concerns following the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, parents to autistic individuals report higher levels of stress and negative impact on daily life, but autistic youth do not feel differently stressed than neurotypicals. Stress levels are tied to specific concerns adolescents have, particularly relating to family relationships. The findings emphasize the need to better understand the subjective experiences of parents and children during crisis situations and gaps between those views.

Authors

• Tslil Simantov, Ben Gurion University in the Negev
  Presenting Author

• Florina Uzefovsky, Ben Gurion University in the Negev
  Non-Presenting Author