Research has found that the Covid pandemic and months of draconian lockdowns likely inflicted long-term harm on children’s brain development, hampering their ability to regulate behavior, stay focused, and adapt to new situations—skills collectively known as executive functions.
A new study led by the University of East Anglia highlights the greatest impact on pupils in reception, aged four to five, when the first lockdowns hit in March 2020—a critical stage for learning to socialize, follow routines, and navigate classroom life. Instead, millions of youngsters were trapped at home, subjected to online “learning” or parental teaching amid widespread government mandates.
These children, now around 10 to 11 in their final year of primary school, showed less growth in self-regulatory and cognitive flexibility scores over time compared to a group who were in preschool during the initial outbreak, according to the research published in the journal Child Development.
The Covid lockdowns may have inflicted long-term harm on children's brain development, an alarming new study has found.https://t.co/vlBIJqztEW
Researchers from the University of East Anglia, along with some from Lancaster University, and Durham University tracked 139 children aged between two-and-a-half and six-and-a-half over several years, with baseline data from before Covid allowing precise measurement of how development stalled.
Using the Minnesota Executive Function Scale, they assessed cognitive skills at regular intervals. Lead researcher Prof John Spencer from UEA’s School of Psychology said: “Children who were in reception when the country shut down showed much slower growth in key self-regulation and cognitive flexibility skills over the next few years than children who were still in preschool.”
“Reception is a critical year for peer socialisation. It’s when children learn classroom norms and build early friendships that shape their confidence,” Spencer added.
Children’s development set back years by Covid lockdowns, study revealsThe Covid pandemic disrupted children’s ability to self-regulate – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.A new study reveals that the pandemic hampered children’s ability to regulate…pic.twitter.com/XYhnXD0JZo
For this cohort starting school in 2020, classrooms shuttered, routines collapsed, and social interactions were severely restricted under heavy-handed policies. “Without these experiences, children’s self-regulatory skills didn’t develop as quickly year-on-year after the lockdowns ended,” Spencer further noted.
Many in this group also suffered repeated Covid infections, potentially compounding the damage from isolation. “Our findings suggest that peer socialisation and the new self–regulatory skills children must master in reception might be particularly critical for the development of executive function skills,” the researchers stated.
Source: modernity
