Impact of COVID-19 pandemic confinement on the behavior of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and confinement have affected access to the health system and have impacted people's mental health, particularly families of children with autism spectrum di-sorder (ASD). Objective: To investigate the perceptions of parents of children with ASD regarding benefits, positive changes, and difficulties in behavioral management at home during the first con-finement due to COVID-19 in Chile. Subjects and Methods: We performed an exploratory cross-sectional qualitative study including 118 parents of individuals with ASD aged between 2 and 15 years. An online questionnaire, prepared by a multidisciplinary committee of national experts using Delphi methodology was applied, which contains four open-ended questions related to children's behavior (difficulties, improvements, benefits, and professional support required) during the pan-demic. Results: Parents perceived that confinement increased emotional stress for adults and chil-dren, which could exacerbate behavioral problems. The interviewees perceived improvements in child social-affective, individual autonomy, and communication skills. The family and resilience aspects, such as time-sharing that emerged during the pandemic to support children's needs, were appreciated. Parents also reported the need for professional support in behavioral and emotional management during confinement. Conclusion: Caregivers value the integration of the family into therapies during confinement. It is necessary to complement these results with additional studies exploring different life contexts of families with children with ASD in Chile and the impacts of long-term confinement.