Research Understanding the Pandemic’s Effects on Children’s Mental Health and Behavior
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t’s no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted children’s lives worldwide; however, surveys show that children with neurodevelopmental conditions and their families have been disproportionally negatively affected, experiencing more emotional and behavioral problems during this difficult time. Changes in familiar routines, disruptions in treatment services and supports, and online schooling issues combined to disproportionately stress autistic individuals and their families.
“Our team is eager to support our families throughout the pandemic,” said Duke Center for Autism psychologist Naomi Davis, Ph.D., an investigator on the center’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) study. “We remain incredibly grateful to those families who have participated in our research projects during the past year, despite the many added challenges associated with the pandemic. We have also been inspired by families’ commitment to partnering with our center to conduct research that will improve the lives of those on the spectrum.” In keeping with the center’s mission to support families in the research community, the research team has been working to better understand
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Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development
the impact of COVID-19 on the experience of families of young children. Marika Coffman, Ph.D., psychologist at the Duke Center for Autism, is leading a research investigation funded by the Autism Science Foundation to study whether autistic children who have been diagnosed with both autism and ADHD or both autism and anxiety are having more difficulty coping with the pandemic than children with autism alone.
“We are committed to contributing to scientific understanding about how pandemic interruptions and disruption directly impacted our research participants and their families.” Marika Coffman, Ph.D.
