Mental health and quality of life of parents of people with ASD during COVID-19: literature review

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In December 2019, the first cases of COVID-19, an infectious-contagious disease that evolved into a pandemic state, emerged in China. Social distancing measures were adopted, which can generate negative psychological impacts for the population. The impact may be greater for the parents of individuals with ASD, as the demands of the children's care are passed on to the parents on a full-time basis. In addition, the fact that parents work from home and the demands of domestic work is added. OBJECTIVE: To review studies on the mental health and/or quality of life of parents during the pandemic. METHODOLOGY: This is a narrative review of the literature looking for articles based on PubMed/Medline, Scielo (Scientific Electronic Library Online), Google Scholar, BVS Portal (Virtual Health Library), Capes Journals (Coordination for the Improvement of Health Personnel Upper level). 12 articles from qualitative cross-sectional studies were selected from the databases. RESULTS: The evaluation of the articles shows that the parents of individuals with ASD tend to be more anxious, stressed, and depressed in this period due to physical and emotional overload. In addition, they had a worse quality of life in this period when compared to parents of children with other disorders and with typical development. CONCLUSION: The development of more studies on the theme is necessary because it is possible to plan more targeted care with a greater scientific basis. The virtual support of professionals and other parents can minimize the impact of the pandemic on this population. However, the diversity of social, economic, and cultural factors involved in this issue requires multisectoral mobilization.