Context

There is a known anecdotal link between the COVID-19 pandemic and poor socioemotional development among children exposed to the dramatic and often frightening restrictions and risks associated with it. Nurses have recognised the difficulties that infants and children have presented within aspects of their development, such as delays in speech and language, social skills and self-care skills, as they progress through childhood. This study provides a statistical link between exposure to the pandemic and delayed socioemotional development using a large scale retrospective cohort sample. There are many applications for this work to nursing practice worldwide, as an entire generation has experienced the same global pandemic.

Findings

The results indicate delayed socioemotional development across all pandemic cohorts compared with pre pandemic. This was evident at 12 months old (pre pandemic : OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.66; pandemic 2: OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.30 to 1.96; pandemic 3: OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.61 to 2.33) and 18 months old (pre pandemic: OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.29 to 2.00; pandemic 3: OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.50 to 2.32). A significant increase in the identification of delay in communication skills specifically has also been identified at 18 months old and 10 months old when adjusted for demographics and family risks.

Commentary

The findings of this study support what has been known anecdotally among practitioners since the COVID-19 pandemic—that there is a significant delay in developmental progress, in particular socioemotional skills, among exposed children. This study contributes to the emerging research conversation around how severe these delays are and the long-term impact on this generation of children through the identification of significant delays in development.

Penna et al’s3 global scoping review identified a clear need for research into the impact the pandemic has had on child development and how this will impact children in later years both worldwide and in the UK; this study provides significant findings to move this ongoing research conversation forward. Byrne et al1 have highlighted concerns with communication development for children aged 2 born in the UK during the pandemic, which correlates with the findings from Kuehn et al.2

The use of ASQs is used across child health services around the world to assess child development and provide a solid base from which to explore the impact of the findings through further research. A limitation of the use of the questionnaires is that they rely on parental self report, which in turn relies on parental knowledge and engagement—it can be difficult to truly assess a child’s development without direct observation. The researchers took measures to control for external variables known to impact child development; however, there is scope to explore this further as knowledge of the impact of the pandemic on family life expands. It must be acknowledged that a generation of children has experienced the pandemic, and the impact on this generation will continue to emerge for many years to come.