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. 2022 Feb;26(4):549-562.
doi: 10.1177/1087054720978549. Epub 2020 Dec 17.

Physical Health, Media Use, and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents With ADHD During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia

Emma Sciberras  1   2   3 , Pooja Patel  1   2 , Mark A Stokes  1 , David Coghill  2   3   4 , Christel M Middeldorp  5   6 , Mark A Bellgrove  7 , Stephen P Becker  8   9 , Daryl Efron  2   3   4 , Argyris Stringaris  10 , Stephen V Faraone  11 , Susannah T Bellows  1 , Jon Quach  2   3 , Tobias Banaschewski  12 , Jane McGillivray  1 , Delyse Hutchinson  1   2   3   13 , Tim J Silk  1   2   3 , Glenn Melvin  1 , Amanda G Wood  1   2   14 , Anna Jackson  1   2 , George Loram  1 , Lidia Engel  1 , Alicia Montgomery  14 , Elizabeth Westrupp  1   3   15
Affiliations

Physical Health, Media Use, and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents With ADHD During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia

Emma Sciberras et al. J Atten Disord. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: Parents of 213 Australian children (5-17 years) with ADHD completed a survey in May 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were in place (i.e., requiring citizens to stay at home except for essential reasons).

Results: Compared to pre-pandemic, children had less exercise (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.4; 95% CI 0.3-0.6), less outdoor time (OR = 0.4; 95% 0.3-0.6), and less enjoyment in activities (OR = 6.5; 95% CI 4.0-10.4), while television (OR = 4.0; 95% CI 2.5-6.5), social media (OR = 2.4; 95% CI 1.3-4.5), gaming (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.3-3.0), sad/depressed mood (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.2-2.8), and loneliness (OR = 3.6; 95% CI 2.3-5.5) were increased. Child stress about COVID-19 restrictions was associated with poorer functioning across most domains. Most parents (64%) reported positive changes for their child including more family time.

Conclusions: COVID-19 restrictions were associated with both negative and positive impacts among children with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD; COVID-19; psychological well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: A/Prof Sciberras receives royalties from her book published through Elsevier: Sleep and ADHD: An Evidence-Based Guide to Assessment and Treatment. In the past 3 years Prof Coghill served in an advisory or consultancy role for Shire/Takeda. He received conference support or speaker’s fee from Medice, Servier and Shire/Takeda. He received royalties from Oxford University Press; the present work is unrelated to these relationships. In the past year, Dr Faraone received income, potential income, travel expenses continuing education support and/or research support from Takeda, OnDosis, Tris, Otsuka, Arbor, Ironshore, Rhodes, Akili Interactive Labs, Enzymotec, Sunovion, Supernus and Genomind. With his institution, he has US patent US20130217707 A1 for the use of sodium-hydrogen exchange inhibitors in the treatment of ADHD. He also receives royalties from books published by Guilford Press: Straight Talk about Your Child’s Mental Health, Oxford University Press: Schizophrenia: The Facts and Elsevier: ADHD: Non-Pharmacologic Interventions. He is Program Director of www.adhdinadults.com. Prof Banaschewski served in an advisory or consultancy role for Lundbeck, Medice, Neurim Pharmaceuticals, Oberberg GmbH, Shire, and Infectopharm. He received conference support or speaker’s fee by Lilly, Medice, and Shire. He received royalities from Hogrefe, Kohlhammer, CIP Medien, Oxford University Press; the present work is unrelated to these relationships. Prof McGillivray currently receives funding from the Moose Foundation, Victorian Department of Education and Training, MECCA Brands, Wenig Family, and Grace and Emilio Foundation to conduct research into neurodevelopmental disorders and inclusion and from the Victorian Departments of Human Services, Justice and Community Safety to conduct research on resilience in young people in out of home care. She also receives funding from the Ferrero Group Australia as part of its Kinder + Sports pillar of Corporate of Social Responsibility initiatives to promote active lifestyles among young people. None of the companies or organizations listed above had a role in this research including the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in writing of the manuscript; and/or the decision to submit the article for publication. Dr Becker has received grant funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education; National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH); and Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation (CCRF), and has received book honoraria from Guilford Press. A/Prof Sciberras, Prof Coghill, Prof Bellgrove, Prof Middeldorp, A/Prof Silk and Dr Montgomery are all on the board of the Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA). Prof Bellgrove is President AADPA, which is leading the development of National Clinical Guidelines for ADHD in Australia.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Life changes due to COVID-19 related restrictions. Note. *N = 201. **N = 200. ***N = 197.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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