Mental Health of Parents of Special Needs Children in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic
School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(24), 9519; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249519
Received: 22 October 2020 / Revised: 8 December 2020 / Accepted: 14 December 2020 / Published: 18 December 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Colors of COVID-19: Confronting Health Disparities During a Global Pandemic)
We assessed the mental health of parents (N = 1450, Mage = 40.76) of special needs children during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an online survey comprising items on demographic data; two self-designed questionnaires (children’s behavioral problems/psychological demand of parents during COVID-19); and four standardized questionnaires, including the General Health Questionnaire, Perceived Social Support, Parenting Stress Index, and Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five Factor Inventory. The results showed that there were significant differences among parents of children with different challenges. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder were more likely to have mental health problems compared to parents whose children had an intellectual disability or a visual or hearing impairment. Behavioral problems of children and psychological demands of parents were common factors predicting the mental health of all parents. Parent–child dysfunctional interactions and parenting distress were associated with parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. Family support, having a difficult child, and parenting distress were associated with having children with an intellectual disability. It is necessary to pay attention to the parents’ mental health, provide more social and family support, and reduce parenting pressures.
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Keywords:
mental health; COVID-19; parents of different types of special needs children; parenting stress; perceived social support
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Chen, S.-Q.; Chen, S.-D.; Li, X.-K.; Ren, J. Mental Health of Parents of Special Needs Children in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 9519. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249519
AMA Style
Chen S-Q, Chen S-D, Li X-K, Ren J. Mental Health of Parents of Special Needs Children in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(24):9519. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249519
Chicago/Turabian StyleChen, Sui-Qing; Chen, Shu-Dan; Li, Xing-Kai; Ren, Jie. 2020. "Mental Health of Parents of Special Needs Children in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic" Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17, no. 24: 9519. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249519
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