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The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of Slovak families with children with autism spectrum disorder and families with typically developing children
The research aimed to monitor changes in the mental health of families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as families with neurotypical children, from first to third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia. We focused on the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, anger and the most important stressors in parents and on the problem behavior and sleep problems of their children, also monitoring therapy availability for children with ASD. We confirmed our hypothesis that the mental health of parents as well as their children was affected by the pandemic, but families with children with ASD were affected more severely, especially during the second wave.
Polónyiová, K., Belica, I., Celušáková, H., Janšáková, K., Kopčíková, M., Szapuová, Ž., Ostatníková, D.: Comparing the impact of the first and second wave of COVID-19 lockdown on Slovak families with typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism. October 2021. doi:10.1177/13623613211051480