{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T15:52:05Z","timestamp":1790610725745,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":6,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,4]],"date-time":"2020-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1599177600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Children and young people (CYP) with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) may be particularly vulnerable to adverse mental health effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional U.K. parent-reported study from 2nd April\u20132nd June 2020, using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. CYP with NDDs (n = 371), compared to neurotypical controls, had a higher prevalence of emotional symptoms (42% vs. 15%) and conduct problems (28% vs. 9%), and fewer prosocial behaviours (54% vs. 22%). All groups had worse emotional symptoms than pre-COVID groups, and those with attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder showed inflated conduct problems, while those with autism spectrum disorder exhibited decreased prosocial behaviours. Females with ASD had higher emotional symptoms compared to males. CYP with NDDs, and those without, showed higher levels of parent-reported mental health problems than comparable cohorts pre-COVID-19.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children7090128","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,4]],"date-time":"2020-09-04T11:24:24Z","timestamp":1599218664000},"page":"128","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":112,"title":["Prevalence and Associated Factors of Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties during COVID-19 Pandemic in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Jacqueline","family":"Nonweiler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Children\u2019s Neurosciences, Evelina London Children\u2019s Hospital, Guy\u2019s and St Thomas\u2019 NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 7EH, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fiona","family":"Rattray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London SE5 8AH, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Baulcomb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Children\u2019s Neurosciences, Evelina London Children\u2019s Hospital, Guy\u2019s and St Thomas\u2019 NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 7EH, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Happ\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London SE5 8AH, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0577-1897","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael","family":"Absoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Women &amp; Children\u2019s Health, King\u2019s College, London SE1 7EH, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"547","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(20)30168-1","article-title":"Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for action for mental health science","volume":"7","author":"Holmes","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1016\/S2352-4642(20)30109-7","article-title":"Mental health effects of school closures during COVID-19","volume":"4","author":"Lee","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Child Adolesc. Health"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aishworiya, R., and Kang, Y.Q. (2020). Including Children with Developmental Disabilities in the Equation During this COVID-19 Pandemic. J. Autism. Dev. Disord., 1\u20134.","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-020-04670-6"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"534","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.177.6.534","article-title":"Using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to screen for child psychiatric disorders in a community sample","volume":"177","author":"Goodman","year":"2000","journal-title":"Br. J. Psychiatry J. Ment. Sci."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"185","article-title":"Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in Great Britain","volume":"15","author":"Meltzer","year":"2000","journal-title":"Lond. Stn. Off."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.1007\/s10578-017-0777-1","article-title":"Should Clinicians Split or Lump Psychiatric Symptoms? The Structure of Psychopathology in Two Large Pediatric Clinical Samples from England and Norway","volume":"49","author":"Zahreddine","year":"2018","journal-title":"Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev."}],"container-title":["Children"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/7\/9\/128\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T10:06:53Z","timestamp":1760177213000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/7\/9\/128"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,4]]},"references-count":6,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9]]}},"alternative-id":["children7090128"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/children7090128","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.20944\/preprints202007.0636.v1","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2227-9067"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2227-9067","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,4]]}}}