Neurodivergent Mental Health in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring Impacts in Autistic, ADHD, and Co-occurring Populations

This study aimed to further clarify how the COVID-19 pandemic and its related consequences impacted mental health symptomatology across three neurodivergent diagnostic groups. Participants included 418 adolescents and young adults (70.3% male; M age = 16.9 years old) previously diagnosed with autism ( n = 208), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 100), or both autism and ADHD ( n = 110) who presented for programming at the UCLA PEERS ® Clinic before ( n = 185) or during ( n = 233) COVID-19. Significant interactions between the diagnostic group and COVID-19 condition emerged for social anxiety ( p = .028), adolescent depression ( p = .049), and young adult loneliness ( p = .006), such that only those with ADHD presented with significantly higher mental health symptoms during the pandemic ( p ’s < .05). Results imply that the mental health of non-autistic young people with ADHD was uniquely impacted by changes brought about by the pandemic and its societal consequences.