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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
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The effects of the pandemic burden on early developmental outcomes in preterm children aged 0-3 years: a

Miriam Cherkaoui1, Volker Mall2, Marcus Krüger3

  • 1TUM School of Medicine and Health, Department of Social Paediatrics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. miriam.cherkaoui@tum.de.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
|June 13, 2026
PubMed

Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted preterm infants' language development, with no significant changes in cognitive or motor skills. Sex-specific differences in motor development were observed, warranting further investigation into environmental influences.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric developmental psychology
  • Neonatal developmental neuroscience
  • Public health and epidemiology

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic created psychosocial stress for families with young children, raising concerns about developmental risks.
  • Preterm infants are particularly vulnerable to environmental influences, necessitating research into pandemic-related developmental impacts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between parent-reported pandemic burden and the cognitive, language, and motor development of preterm children.
  • To compare developmental outcomes of preterm children assessed during the pandemic with a pre-pandemic cohort.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 69 children (62.3% preterm) were assessed between 2022-2023 using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development.
  • A subset of preterm children was compared to a pre-pandemic control group (n=40).
  • Pandemic burden was measured using the Corona-Index; multiple linear regressions and Mann-Whitney-U-Tests were employed.

Main Results:

  • Preterm children during the pandemic exhibited significantly lower language scores compared to the pre-pandemic group (p=0.001).
  • Cognitive and motor development scores did not significantly differ between the groups.
  • A significant interaction between pandemic burden and sex was found for motor development in the pandemic cohort (p=0.022).

Conclusions:

  • Preterm children assessed during the pandemic demonstrated language score differences, potentially linked to altered social environments.
  • While results suggest pandemic-related impacts, instrument variability and clinical confounding cannot be ruled out.
  • Exploratory findings underscore the need for sex-specific analyses in understanding environmental disruptions' effects on child development.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID-19 pandemicChild developmentDevelopmental outcomeParenting stressPreterm birth

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