Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Child Development: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis

To explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood development and identify areas of interest surrounding development.

A systematic literature review was performed to identify articles examining how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected early childhood development, and a meta-analysis was conducted from the results of those articles to examine the degree of the impact of the pandemic on the areas of childhood development.

Ten articles from 6 countries were identified that met all inclusion and exclusion criteria. The multivariate meta-analysis showed no significant difference in overall development (pooled Cohen's d = 0.28, 95% CI, -0.33 to 0.88; p = 0.18) or odds for developmental delay (pooled odds ratio (OR) = 1.44, 95% CI, 0.77 to 2.67; p = 0.20) between pre-COVID-19 development and COVID-19 development. However, there was significantly more impairment ( d = 0.46, p = 0.003) and greater odds (72%; OR = 1.72, p = 0.01) for developmental delay in the language and communication domain for COVID-19 children versus pre-COVID-19 children.

While exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic was not associated with global developmental delays, it had a significant impact on child development regarding language and communication. Further research monitoring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is necessary, and parents and communities should focus on increasing early intervention and enriched curriculum to offset these delays.