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COVID-19 Pandemic and the Developmental Health of Kindergarteners

Judith L Perrigo1,2, Jordan Morales2, Nicholas Jackson3

  • 1Department of Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Luskin School of Public Affairs.

JAMA Pediatrics
|March 10, 2025
PubMed

Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted US kindergarteners' language, social, and communication skills. While emotional maturity improved, these findings reveal concerning developmental trends both before and after the pandemic.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to adverse developmental outcomes in children, yet research on young children, particularly with longitudinal data, is limited.
  • Understanding the pandemic's specific effects on early childhood development is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the developmental health of US kindergarteners.
  • To analyze developmental trends using the Early Development Instrument (EDI) before and after the pandemic's onset.

Main Methods:

  • A repeated cross-sectional panel study analyzed EDI data from 475,740 US kindergarteners across 390 school districts (2010-2023).
  • Developmental health was assessed across five domains: physical health, social competence, emotional maturity, language/cognitive development, and communication/general knowledge.
  • Prepandemic (2018-2020) and postpandemic (2021-2023) onset cohorts were compared.

Main Results:

  • Postpandemic onset was associated with significantly lower rates of change in language and cognitive development (-0.45), social competence (-0.03), and communication and general knowledge (-0.18).
  • Emotional maturity scores significantly increased (0.05), while physical health and well-being showed no significant change.
  • Negative developmental trends were observed prior to the pandemic, with most persisting or decelerating postpandemic.

Conclusions:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic had varied effects on kindergarteners' development, with notable declines in cognitive, social, and communication domains.
  • These findings underscore persistent and worsening developmental challenges in young children, necessitating further investigation into underlying causes.
  • Interventions may be needed to address these concerning developmental trajectories in early childhood education settings.
Abstract

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