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Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has been declared a global pandemic. The consequences of this pandemic, among them changes in routine, quarantine, school closures and more, place children with special needs and their families at risk of severe emotional distress. Therefore, the present study used an online survey to measure stress, anxiety and depression levels as well as concerns related to the COVID-19 outbreak among 94 parents of children with special needs (mean age = 41.6 years, SD = 6.59; 83% female) and 79 parents raising a typically developing child (mean age = 40.85 years, SD = 7.40; 85% female). We also examined whether the use of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies (reappraisal and suppression, respectively) predicts emotional distress among the two parent groups. The results indicate that compared to parents of TD children, parents of children with special needs reported more concerns about the COVID19 outbreak and more symptoms of emotional distress (depression, anxiety and stress). The use of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies moderated the association between concerns arising from the COVID-19 outbreak and emotional distress. In addition, the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies predicted distress only among parents of children with special needs but not among parents of TD children. These findings highlight the role played by emotion regulation in maintaining well-being at times of crisis among vulnerable populations, such as families raising children with special needs.