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Social communication skill attainment in babies born during the COVID-19 pandemic: a birth cohort study
Susan Byrne1,2,3, Hailey Sledge4, Ruth Franklin4
1Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland suabyrne@rcsi.ie.
Insights
Babies born during COVID-19 lockdowns showed delays in social communication milestones like speaking, pointing, and waving bye-bye compared to historical cohorts. Further research is needed to confirm these findings in pandemic-affected infants.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Psychology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated widespread lockdowns, limiting infants' social interactions.
- Babies born during this period had reduced exposure to social circles outside their immediate family.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare developmental milestones in infants born during the COVID-19 pandemic with a historical cohort.
- To investigate potential impacts of pandemic-related social isolation on early social communication skills.
Main Methods:
- Compared 10 parentally reported developmental milestones at 12 months.
- Utilized the CORAL cohort (pandemic babies) and the historical BASELINE cohort (pre-pandemic babies).
- Employed adjusted log-binomial regression analyses to assess differences.
Main Results:
- Infants born during the pandemic (CORAL cohort) showed lower rates of having one definite word (76.6% vs. 89.3%), pointing (83.8% vs. 92.8%), and waving bye-bye (87.7% vs. 94.4%) compared to the historical cohort (BASELINE).
- Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences in these social communication milestones between the cohorts.
- Relative risks indicated deficits in the CORAL cohort for one word (RR: 0.86), pointing (RR: 0.91), and waving bye-bye (RR: 0.94).
Conclusions:
- Babies born during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns may exhibit deficits in early social communication skills.
- Parental reporting and historical cohort comparison have limitations; further studies with standardized testing are recommended.
- It is hoped that increased social interaction post-pandemic will support the improvement of these skills in infants.
Introduction:
The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic was managed with sustained mass lockdowns to prevent spread of COVID-19 infection. Babies born during the early stages of the pandemic missed the opportunity of meeting a normal social circle of people outside the family home.
Methods:
We compared 10 parentally reported developmental milestones at 12-month assessment in a cohort of 309 babies born at the onset of the pandemic (CORAL cohort) and 1629 babies from a historical birth cohort (BASELINE cohort recruited between 2008 and 2011).
Results:
Compared with a historical cohort, babies born into lockdown appeared to have some deficits in social communication. Fewer infants in the pandemic cohort had one definite and meaningful word (76.6% vs 89.3%), could point (83.8% vs 92.8%) or wave bye-bye (87.7% vs 94.4%) at 12-month assessment. Adjusted log-binomial regression analyses demonstrated significant differences in social communication in the CORAL cohort compared with the BASELINE cohort: one definite and meaningful word (relative risk (RR): 0.86 (95% CI: 0.80 to 0.92)), pointing (RR: 0.91 (95% CI: 0.86 to 0.96)) and waving bye-bye (RR: 0.94 (95% CI: 0.90 to 0.99)).
Discussion:
Parentally reported developmental outcomes in a birth cohort of babies born into lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic may indicate some potential deficits in early life social communication. It must be noted that milestones are parentally reported and comparison is with a historical cohort with associated limitations. Further studies with standardised testing is required to validate these findings.
Conclusion:
Pandemic-associated social isolation may have impacted on the social communication skills in babies born during the pandemic compared with a historical cohort. Babies are resilient and inquisitive by nature, and it is hoped that with societal re-emergence and increase in social circles, their social communication skills will improve.
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