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Developmental outcomes in 4-year-old children born in the first COVID-19 lockdown in England: preliminary findings

Nicola Botting1, Chelo Del Rosario2, Jane Flynn2

  • 1School of Health and Medical Sciences, City St George's University of London, London, England, UK Nicola.Botting.1@citystgeorges.ac.uk.

Archives of Disease in Childhood
|July 14, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Children born during COVID-19 lockdowns showed lower executive function and some language and motor skills compared to cognitive potential. These developmental impacts highlight the need for targeted educational support for these children.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Health
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Children born during COVID-19 lockdowns faced limited social exposure during critical developmental periods.
  • Early social interactions are vital for language, executive function, and motor skill development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the developmental outcomes at age 4 for children born during England's COVID-19 lockdowns.
  • To compare developmental assessments against prepandemic norms and non-verbal reasoning benchmarks.

Main Methods:

  • An observational, cross-sectional study assessed 205 children born in lockdown using standardized measures.
  • Evaluated expressive and receptive language, executive function, motor skills, and non-verbal reasoning.
  • Compared scores against prepandemic normative data and a within-sample non-verbal reasoning benchmark.

Main Results:

  • Children scored higher than expected in Sentence Structure, Expressive Vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, and non-verbal reasoning (Matrices).
  • Caregiver-reported executive function was significantly lower than expected.
  • When benchmarked against non-verbal reasoning, expressive language, executive function, and motor skills were lower than cognitive potential.

Conclusions:

  • Executive function deficits were the most significant concern for children born in lockdown.
  • Impacts on expressive language and motor skills relative to cognitive potential suggest potential educational vulnerabilities.
  • Findings emphasize the need for responsive educational policies and targeted support for postpandemic cohorts.
Abstract

Keywords:
Child DevelopmentCovid-19Psychology

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