Will the COVID-19 pandemic affect children’s development?

Children born during the coronavirus pandemic have a significantly reduced level of mental development, motor skills and speech skills develop worse compared to children who were born before 2020. These are the results of the study¹published by American pediatrician Professor Sean Deoni in collaboration with a group of researchers.

Why can children born in 2020 and 2021 lag behind in development from age norms? Scientists identify several reasons.

• A high level of anxiety and depression in pregnant women affects the development of the nervous system (including the brain) of children.
• Social isolation has forced many to limit socializing and going to public places. But socialization is an extremely important factor for human development. And restrictions could negatively affect the development of children, whose world from the first months and years of life has narrowed to an apartment or house, and the social circle is limited only by their parents.
• Those whose lifestyles have been significantly changed by the pandemic are having difficulty caring for their children. Adapting to new realities, the need to take many precautions and much more takes away the resources of young mothers. And this is the very time and energy that they could give to children.

Is it worth the alarm?

We asked our expert, neuropsychologist Lidia Fedorova, to comment on the results of the study. “Certainly, the baby is affected by the anxious and depressive state of the mother. It may be related to the pandemic or other reasons, such as personal problems. But the development of a child always depends on the totality of all factors – both biological and social. How different children will react to the same circumstances is impossible to predict.

As a rule, really serious consequences can occur if the mother has a depressive, anxious state, and the child has intrauterine or organic lesions. And if the children’s brain is healthy, it has good adaptive mechanisms, then it will most likely cope even if the mother is worried about the pandemic.

Now parents of preschoolers and schoolchildren are increasingly turning to psychologists – with children’s problems, anxiety. Often this is a consequence of the general nervous situation around.

Therefore, it is very important how the adults in the family behave, how they perceive the situation. Indeed, in it you can find positive moments, opportunities and points of growth, and then the child will have the opportunity to adapt.

For example, with regard to the same socialization, children perfectly use modern technical means, and virtual communication for them is quite a good compensation. Again, there is an active development of online educational technologies. That is, whether the pandemic will affect the development of the child depends largely on adults and whether they are able to see opportunities for development in the situation.”

It should be noted that the published study cannot objectively reflect the overall picture, and on its basis it is not necessary to draw general negative conclusions. So far, too little time has passed since the beginning of the pandemic, and experts need years to fully assess its consequences for both children and adults. But it’s still worth thinking about how to diversify the social circle and leisure of young children.

¹ https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.10.21261846v1