PMID- 38419902 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20240312 IS - 1664-0640 (Print) IS - 1664-0640 (Electronic) IS - 1664-0640 (Linking) VI - 15 DP - 2024 TI - Economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities. PG - 1342504 LID - 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1342504 [doi] LID - 1342504 AB - BACKGROUND: To control the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), many jurisdictions throughout the world enacted public health measures that had vast socio-economic implications. In emergency situations, families of children with developmental disabilities (DDs), including autism, may experience increased difficulty accessing therapies, economic hardship, and caregiver stress, with the potential to exacerbate autism symptoms. Yet, limited research exists on the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on families of children with autism or another DD compared to families of children from the general population. OBJECTIVES: To assess impact of the COVID-19 pandemic related to parental employment and economic difficulties in families of children with autism, another DD, and in the general population, considering potential modification by socioeconomic disadvantage before the pandemic and levels of child behavioral and emotional problems. METHODS: The Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) is a multi-site, multi-phase, case-control study of young children with autism or another DD as compared to a population comparison group (POP). During January-July 2021, a COVID-19 Impact Assessment Questionnaire was sent to eligible participants (n=1,789) who had enrolled in SEED Phase 3 from September 2017-March 2020. Parents completed a questionnaire on impacts of the pandemic in 2020 and completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to measure behavioral and emotional health of their child during this time. Multiple logistic regression models were built for employment reduction, increased remote work, difficulty paying bills, or fear of losing their home. Covariates include group status (autism, DD, POP), household income at enrollment, child's race and ethnicity, and binary CBCL Total Problems T-score (<60 vs. >/=60). Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. RESULTS: The study included 274 children with autism, 368 children with another DD, and 385 POP children. The mean age of 6.1 years (standard deviation, 0.8) at the COVID-19 Impact Assessment did not differ between study groups. Parents of children with autism were less likely to transition to remote work (aOR [95% CI] = 0.6 [0.4, 1.0]) and more likely to report difficulty paying bills during the pandemic (1.8 [1.2, 2.9]) relative to parents of POP children. Lower income was associated with greater employment reduction, difficulty paying bills, and fear of losing their home, but inversely associated with transitioning to remote work. Parents of non-Hispanic (NH) Black children experienced greater employment reduction compared to parents of NH White children (1.9 [1.1, 3.0]). Parents from racial and ethnic minority groups were more likely to experience difficulty paying bills and fear losing their home, relative to NH White parents. Caregivers of children with CBCL scores in the clinical range were more likely to fear losing their home (2.1 [1.3, 3.4]). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that families of children with autism, families of lower socio-economic status, and families of racial and ethnic minority groups experienced fewer work flexibilities and greater financial distress during the pandemic. Future research can be used to assess if these impacts are sustained over time. CI - Copyright (c) 2024 Pokoski, Crain, DiGuiseppi, Furnier, Moody, Nadler, Pazol, Sanders, Wiggins and Durkin. FAU - Pokoski, Olivia M AU - Pokoski OM AD - Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. AD - Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. FAU - Crain, Hayley AU - Crain H AD - Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. AD - Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. FAU - DiGuiseppi, Carolyn AU - DiGuiseppi C AD - Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, United States. FAU - Furnier, Sarah M AU - Furnier SM AD - Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. AD - Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. FAU - Moody, Eric J AU - Moody EJ AD - Wyoming Institute for Disabilities, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States. FAU - Nadler, Cy AU - Nadler C AD - Division of Developmental and Behavioral Health, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, United States. FAU - Pazol, Karen AU - Pazol K AD - National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States. FAU - Sanders, Jessica AU - Sanders J AD - Department of Pediatrics and Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, United States. FAU - Wiggins, Lisa D AU - Wiggins LD AD - National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States. FAU - Durkin, Maureen S AU - Durkin MS AD - Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. AD - Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. AD - Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States. LA - eng GR - U01 DD001215/DD/NCBDD CDC HHS/United States GR - U01 DD001291/DD/NCBDD CDC HHS/United States PT - Journal Article DEP - 20240214 PL - Switzerland TA - Front Psychiatry JT - Frontiers in psychiatry JID - 101545006 PMC - PMC10899320 OTO - NOTNLM OT - COVID-19 OT - COVID-19 pandemic impacts OT - autism spectrum disorder OT - family impacts OT - neurodevelopmental disorder COIS- The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. EDAT- 2024/02/29 06:43 MHDA- 2024/02/29 06:44 PMCR- 2024/02/14 CRDT- 2024/02/29 03:59 PHST- 2023/11/21 00:00 [received] PHST- 2024/01/26 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2024/02/29 06:44 [medline] PHST- 2024/02/29 06:43 [pubmed] PHST- 2024/02/29 03:59 [entrez] PHST- 2024/02/14 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1342504 [doi] PST - epublish SO - Front Psychiatry. 2024 Feb 14;15:1342504. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1342504. eCollection 2024.