Difficulties in Managing Children's Learning among Caregivers of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Association with Worsened Behavioral and Emotional Symptoms

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 22;19(21):13722. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192113722.

Abstract

School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have interfered with children's learning. The aim of this study was to investigate the difficulties in managing children's learning at home and attending afterschool learning programs and their related factors among caregivers of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 252 caregivers of children with ADHD completed a questionnaire collecting difficulties in managing children's learning, parenting styles, children's worsened symptoms of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and emotion, and increased Internet use. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the factors related to caregiver difficulties in managing children's learning and children's worsened ADHD, ODD, and emotional symptoms. In total, 85.3% of the caregivers had difficulty in asking their children to learn at home; 28.2% had difficulty in taking children to afterschool learning programs. Children's worsened anger was significantly associated with higher caregiver difficulty in asking children to learn at home, whereas parental overprotection was significantly associated with lower caregiver difficulty in asking children to learn at home. Worsened hyperactivity and opposition were significantly associated with higher caregiver difficulty in taking children to attend afterschool learning programs. Interventions for enhancing caregivers' skills to manage children's learning and children's behavioral and emotional symptoms should take the related factors found in this study into consideration.

Keywords: COVID-19; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; caregiver; learning; mental health.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* / epidemiology
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* / psychology
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Caregivers / psychology
  • Child
  • Emotions
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Taiwan / epidemiology

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST110-2635-B-182A-001). The funding agency did not have a role in this study.