COVID-19-induced educational disruptions and children's executive functioning: A longitudinal cohort study

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Neuroscience
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• COVID-19 pandemic disrupted children's development.
• Existing studies on executive functioning (EF) relied on caregiver reports or cross-sectional data.
• Longitudinal, direct assessments of EF during pandemic-related school closures are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the impact of COVID-19 school closures on executive functioning (EF) growth in elementary-aged children.
• To assess EF development using repeated, direct assessments before and after pandemic school closures.
• To investigate moderation effects of remote learning compliance on EF growth trajectories.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 667 diverse, low-income elementary students (Kindergarten 2018-Fifth Grade 2023).
• Direct assessments of two key EF skills.
• Random-intercept models to estimate growth and impact of school closures.

Main Results:

• Children's EF growth stagnated during school closures, losing an estimated 11-12 months of development.
• Post-reopening, EF growth continued but at a 65%-74% slower rate.
• Insufficient remote work correlated with less stagnation in inhibitory control/attention, possibly due to selection.

Conclusions:

• COVID-19 school closures significantly impeded executive functioning (EF) growth in children.
• Interventions are crucial to support EF recovery.
• Further research is needed on the specific impact of school closures versus other pandemic stressors.