Brief report: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health behaviors in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Background: There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively affect health behaviors in youth, especially youth diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Objective: The purpose of this paper was to examine changes in physical activity, screen-time, and sleep in adolescents with ASD due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Nine adolescents with ASD completed surveys measuring physical activity, screen-time, and sleep duration prior to and during the pandemic.

Results: A significant decrease in days of physical activity (4.17 vs 2.27; p = 0.0006), and a significant increase in hours of both weekday (3.69 vs 6.25; p = 0.007) and weekend screen-time (5.94 vs. 7.39; p = 0.004) was observed during the pandemic. No changes regarding sleep duration was observed.

Conclusions: Although preliminary, results suggest that physical activity and screen-time may be negatively affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in youth with ASD. The development of interventions to promote health behaviors in ASD populations during long periods of less-structured time (quarantine) should be considered.

Keywords: Adolescents; Autism spectrum disorder; COVID-19; Physical activity; Screen-time.