Objective: To examine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: Parents of 213 Australian children (5–17 years) with ADHD completed a survey in May 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were in place (i.e., requiring citizens to stay at home except for essential reasons). Results: Compared to pre-pandemic, children had less exercise (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.4; 95% CI 0.3–0.6), less outdoor time (OR = 0.4; 95% 0.3–0.6), and less enjoyment in activities (OR = 6.5; 95% CI 4.0–10.4), while television (OR = 4.0; 95% CI 2.5–6.5), social media (OR = 2.4; 95% CI 1.3–4.5), gaming (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.3–3.0), sad/depressed mood (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.2–2.8), and loneliness (OR = 3.6; 95% CI 2.3–5.5) were increased. Child stress about COVID-19 restrictions was associated with poorer functioning across most domains. Most parents (64%) reported positive changes for their child including more family time. Conclusions: COVID-19 restrictions were associated with both negative and positive impacts among children with ADHD.

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Among the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most dramatic was the immediate closure of in-person schooling when parents were faced with much greater responsibility in supporting their children’s learning. Despite this, few studies have examined parents’ own perspectives of this experience. The aims of this study were to (1) identify overall challenges, benefits, and useful strategies related to home learning and (2) examine differences in findings across continents, between parents of youth with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and between parents of children and adolescents. A qualitative approach was used to understand parents’ responses to remote learning across three studies conducted in the United States and Australia. Parents (N=606, children: 68.5% male, ages 6-17 years) provided responses to three open-ended questions. The most frequently expressed challenges were difficulty staying on task (20.5%), lack of motivation (15.3%), teacher-related factors such as poor teaching quality (13.4%), lack of social interaction opportunities (10.9%), and balancing parent work with online learning (10.2%). The most frequently expressed strategy related to using routines and schedules (51.4%) and the biggest benefit was more family time (18.3%). Findings were largely consistent across continents, ADHD status, and age, suggesting that many parental responses to remote learning appear to be universal. Given that the most common challenges were child- (e.g., difficulties with staying on task and motivation), parent- (e.g., balancing remote learning with work responsibilities), and teacher- (e.g., poor instructional quality) related, there is a need for improved support across these systems going forward.

Among the many impacts of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, one of the most dramatic was the immediate closure of in-person schooling in March/April 2020 when parents were faced with much greater responsibility in supporting their children's learning. Despite this, few studies have examined parents' own perspectives of this experience. The aims of this preliminary study were to (a) identify challenges, benefits, and useful strategies related to remote learning and (b) examine differences in findings across two countries, between parents of youth with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and between parents of children and adolescents. To address these aims, parent responses to openended questions on the Home Adjustment to COVID-19 Scale (HACS; were examined across three studies conducted in the United States and Australia (N = 606, children: 68.5% male, ages 6-17 years). The challenges most frequently expressed by parents included the child's difficulty staying on task (23.8% of parents), lack of motivation (18.3%), remote learning factors (17.8%), and lack of social interaction (14.4%). The most frequently expressed strategy related to using routines and schedules (58.2%) and the biggest benefit was more family time (20.3%). Findings were largely consistent across countries, ADHD status, and age, with a few notable group differences. Given that the most common challenges involved child-(e.g., difficulties with staying on task and motivation), parent-(e.g., balancing remote learning with work responsibilities), and school-(e.g., remote instruction difficulties) related factors, there is a need for improved support across these systems going forward. do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies or authors' affiliations.