Effect of social isolation on autistic and their caregivers during COVID-19

Authors

  • Karine Alves Ribeiro
  • Julia Cardoso Rocha
  • Amanda Caroline Vicente de Moura
  • Matheus Santos Oliveira
  • Larissa Araujo da Silva
  • Maria Helena Santos Tezza
  • Deborah Cristina Gonçalves Luiz Fernani
  • Maria Tereza Artero Prado Dantas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34024/rnc.2023.v31.15626

Keywords:

Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Quality of life, Behavior

Abstract

Objective. Analyzing the effect of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional, eating, and sleep behaviors of children and adolescents with ASD. Additionally, assessing the level of caregiver burden and quality of life for individuals with ASD. Method. 29 children and adolescents with ASD and their respective caregivers were included. Caregivers answered, via Google Forms, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale for the classification of ASD, the Burden Interview questionnaire for burden analysis, and the Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) to verify the quality of life, in addition to two questionnaires prepared by the authors. For analysis of proportions, the chi-square test was used with the post Bonferroni test. To analyze the correlations, the unpaired Student's t test was utilized (p<0.05). Results. A higher percentage of alterations was found in individuals with moderate to severe autism (with percentages above 50%): anxiety, increased repetitive movements, excessive crying, irritability and agitation, sleep and eating disorders. There was a predominance of mild to moderate overload and quality of life showed percentages of 64.75±13.07% in the mild to moderate autism group, and 64.03±13.22% in the moderate to severe group (p=0.89). Conclusion. During the period of social isolation, there were changes in the behavior of children and adolescents with ASD, with a more significant impact on those with moderate to severe autism. The presence of caregiver burden and impairment in the quality of life was independent of the ASD classification.

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Published

2023-12-14

How to Cite

Alves Ribeiro, K., Cardoso Rocha, J., Vicente de Moura, A. C., Santos Oliveira, M. ., Araujo da Silva, L., Santos Tezza, M. H., … Artero Prado Dantas, M. T. (2023). Effect of social isolation on autistic and their caregivers during COVID-19. Revista Neurociências, 31, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.34024/rnc.2023.v31.15626

Issue

Vol. 31 (2023)

Section

Artigos Originais

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Copyright (c) 2023 Karine Alves Ribeiro, Julia Cardoso Rocha, Amanda Caroline Vicente de Moura, Matheus Santos Oliveira, Larissa Araujo da Silva, Maria Helena Santos Tezza, Deborah Cristina Gonçalves Luiz Fernani, Maria Tereza Artero Prado Dantas

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

##plugins.generic.dates.received## 2023-09-09
##plugins.generic.dates.accepted## 2023-12-07
##plugins.generic.dates.published## 2023-12-14

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