Psychological distress and burden among family caregivers of children with and without developmental disabilities six months into the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unique challenges for family caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (DD). The purpose of this study was to conduct a 6-month follow-up on the experiences of caregiver burden and psychological distress among caregivers of children with autism (ASD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during COVID-19 pandemic, compare their experiences to caregivers of children without DD, and test the interaction between opportunities for self-care and caregiver burden and psychological distress. Results indicated caregivers of children with ASD/ADHD continued to report significantly higher levels of psychological distress and caregiver burden compared to caregivers of children without DD. Counter to study hypotheses decreased opportunities to engage in self-care as a result of the pandemic predicted higher levels of psychological distress and caregiver burden for caregivers of children without DD, whereas only caregiver burden was moderated by self-care for caregivers of children with ASD/ADHD. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to negatively impact the psychological health of family caregivers of school-age children. In general, greater challenges are presented for caregivers of children with ASD/ADHD, but they seem to be more resilient to some COVID-19 challenges than caregivers of children without DD.

Automated summary

During the COVID-19 pandemic, caregivers of children with ASD/ADHD continue to experience higher levels of psychological distress and caregiver burden compared to caregivers of children without DD. Decreased opportunities for self-care due to the pandemic were found to predict higher levels of psychological distress and caregiver burden for caregivers of children without DD, while only caregiver burden was moderated by self-care for caregivers of children with ASD/ADHD.