ArticlePaediatrics & child health2022
Mental health profiles of autistic children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Paediatrics & child health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Parallel Pandemic: A Systematic Review on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on OCD among Children and Adolescents.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Virtual delivery of group-based cognitive behavioral therapy for autistic children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic was acceptable, feasible, and effective.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Mental health and healthcare use during COVID-19 among neurodivergent youth and youth with pre-existing psychiatric disorders: A systematic review.JCPP advances · 2026Article
- The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on School Readiness and Mental Health Concerns: A Prospective Cohort Pilot Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities: A Systematic Review.Review journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Review
- Impact of COVID-19 on Adaptive Skills and Psychiatric Symptoms in South Korean Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.JAACAP open · 2025Article
- Parent Outcomes Following Participation in Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Autistic Children in a Community Setting: Parent Mental Health, Mindful Parenting, and Parenting Practices.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025Article
- [A review of research on psychological and behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder during the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2023Review
- School and learning contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for child and youth mental health.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Psychosocial Functioning and the Educational Experiences of Students with ASD during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: Canadian province-wide lockdowns have challenged children's mental health (MH) during the COVID-19 pandemic, with autistic children being at particular risk. The purpose of our study was to identify sub-groups of autistic children with distinct mental health change profiles, to understand the child-, parent-, and system-specific factors associated with such profiles in order to ultimately inform future interventions. Methods: Data were drawn from a large Canadian cohort (N=1,570) across Ontario, resulting in 265 autistic children (mean age=10.9 years, 76% male). K-means clustering analyses were employed to partition distinct MH profiles in six MH measures (mood, anxiety, OCD symptoms, irritability, inattention, hyperactivity) and group differences were examined with reference to the above factors. Additionally, we investigated the characteristics of children who accessed acute MH services. Results: The optimal number of clusters was two; one included those experiencing MH deterioration across all six MH measures (61.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI]=54.9 to 67.4), and a second included youth that did not experience MH changes (38.7%, 95%CI=32.6 to 45.1). Child-specific factors associated with MH deterioration included higher pre-existing internalizing symptoms, high levels of COVID stress. Parental MH challenges and system-specific factors, such as the loss of learning supports, access to physicians and material deprivation, were also associated with MH deterioration. Access to acute MH services were primarily associated with financial insecurity and loss of services. Conclusions: More than half of autistic children experienced MH deterioration, and person-specific (pre-existing MH, COVID related stress), parent-specific (Parent MH) and system-level (loss of services and material deprivation) characteristics were associated with such decline, providing clinical and policy opportunities for intervention at multiple levels.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.