Effects of the early phase of COVID-19 on the autistic community in Sweden: a qualitative multi-informant study linking to ICF
Open accessAbstract
While the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, early outcome studies indicate severe and pervasive global effects of the pandemic and associated measures to prevent the spread of the virus. General population studies, as well as insight into the outcomes for particular groups, will be necessary in order to mitigate potentially long-term effects as well as to prepare for future epidemics or pandemics. The pandemic conditions have been marked by rapid and abrupt changes and unpredictability which are circumstances that leave the autistic population particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes following the distinctive features of the diagnosis. Studies are only beginning to delineate the outcomes of the global autism community and the present study adds to these findings by providing a local, multi-perspective, qualitative analysis of the lived experiences of the Swedish autism community. In this study, autistic youth and adults, caregivers of autistic individuals, as well as representatives of Swedish interest organizations were interviewed. Thematic analysis was performed on the population as a whole and patterns of results were formalized according to the International Classification of Function, Disability and Health (ICF-CY). Participants report wide-ranging adverse outcomes of the pandemic relating to mental health and access to support, participation in daily activities and socialization, education, and work as well as parental resources. However, participants also report positive outcomes relating to a reduction in specific social and everyday demands, and normalization of lived experiences. Additionally, interviews outlined some strategies used to cope during pandemic conditions. Implications of these findings are discussed.
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Not commuting increased focus and productivity.
“increased focus and productivity [39,41]”
From Homeworking experiences of neuro-divergent workers: systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [41]
Homeworking was described as requiring good self-management skills and some described struggles becoming motivated and managing their time.
“Homeworking was described as requiring good self-management skills [41] and some described struggles becoming motivated and managing their time [47].”
From Homeworking experiences of neuro-divergent workers: systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [41]
Participants in several studies described experiencing distractions while WFH.
“Participants in several studies described experiencing distractions while WFH [41,42,44,47,55,56,58,60].”
From Homeworking experiences of neuro-divergent workers: systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [41]
Many participants cited not needing to commute to work as a benefit of WFH.
“Many participants cited not needing to commute to work as a benefit of WFH [38,41,54]”
From Homeworking experiences of neuro-divergent workers: systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [41]
Most participants had experienced an abrupt shift to homeworking which was perceived to cause anxiety.
“As nearly all included studies took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, most participants had experienced an abrupt shift to homeworking which was perceived to cause anxiety [41,44,60].”
From Homeworking experiences of neuro-divergent workers: systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [41]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Fridell, A., Norrman, H. N., Girke, L., & Bölte, S.
- Affiliations
- Curtin University (AU)
- Region Stockholm (SE)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Fridell, Anna
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-01-24
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1268
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8835079
- OpenAlex
- W4210487547
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 6
- FWCI
- 6.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Macquarie University
- Karolinska Institutet
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, autism spectrum disorder, autistic community, lived experience, caregivers, mental health, access to support, social participation (health and rehabilitation), employment, parental resources, coping strategies, ICF-CY, disability
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Adult, Autistic Disorder, Humans, Sweden, Pandemics
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