Maria Cusinato

Dr. Maria Cusinato

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Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

7Years (2020-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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MCMaria Cusinato
Maria Cusinato
SISara Iannattone
Sara Iannattone
ASAndrea Spoto
Andrea Spoto
MPMikael Poli
Mikael Poli
CMCarlo Moretti
Carlo Moretti
MMMarina Miscioscia
Marina Miscioscia
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has forced parents and children to adopt significant changes in their daily routine, which has been a big challenge for families, with important implications for family stress. In this study, we aimed to analyze the potential risk and protective factors for parents’ and children’s well-being during a potentially traumatic event such as the COVID-19 quarantine. Specifically, we investigated parents’ and children’s well-being, parental stress, and children’s resilience. The study involved 463 Italian parents of children aged 5–17. All participants completed an online survey consisting of the Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWB) to assess parental well-being, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to measure children’s well-being, the Parent Stress Scale (PSS) to investigate parental stress, and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-R) to measure children’s resilience. The results show that confinement measures and changes in daily routine negatively affect parents’ psychological dimensions, thus exposing children to a significant risk for their well-being. Our results also detect some risk factors for psychological maladjustments, such as parental stress, lower levels of resilience in children, changes in working conditions, and parental psychological, physical, or genetic problems. In this study, we attempted to identify the personal and contextual variables involved in the psychological adjustment to the COVID-19 quarantine to identify families at risk for maladjustment and pave the way for ad hoc intervention programs intended to support them. Our data show promising results for the early detection of the determinants of families’ psychological health. It is important to focus attention on the needs of families and children—including their mental health—to mitigate the health and economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

28 June 2021 in Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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MCMaria Cusinato
Maria Cusinato
MMMariangela Martino
Mariangela Martino
ASAlex Sartori
Alex Sartori
CGClaudia Gabrielli
Claudia Gabrielli
LTLaura Tassara
Laura Tassara
CMCarlo Moretti
Carlo Moretti
Objectives: Our study aims to assess the impact of lockdown during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on glycemic control and psychological well-being in youths with type 1 diabetes. Methods: We compared glycemic metrics during lockdown with the same period of 2019. The psychological impact was evaluated with the Test of Anxiety and Depression. Results: We analyzed metrics of 117 adolescents (87% on Multiple Daily Injections and 100% were flash glucose monitoring/continuous glucose monitoring users). During the lockdown, we observed an increase of the percentage of time in range (TIR) (p<0.001), with a significant reduction of time in moderate (p=0.002), and severe hypoglycemia (p=0.001), as well as the percentage of time in hyperglycemia (p<0.001). Glucose variability did not differ (p=0.863). The glucose management indicator was lower (p=0.001). 7% of youths reached the threshold-score (≥115) for anxiety and 16% for depression. A higher score was associated with lower TIR [p=0.028, p=0.012]. Conclusions: Glycemic control improved during the first lockdown period with respect to the previous year. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were associated with worse glycemic control; future researches are necessary to establish if this improvement is transient and if psychological difficulties will increase during the prolonged pandemic situation.