Author: Alex Hammer for Dailymail.Com
Published: November 26, 2021 16:54 EST | Updated: November 26, 2021 16:59 EST
A new study shows that social distancing measures, including masks, are suspected of causing a 23% drop in the development of young children during the COVID pandemic.
Brown University scientists Sean CL Deoni, Jennifer Beauchemin, Alexandra Volpe and Viren D'Sa co-authored the review with global consulting firm Resonance, collecting data on 1,600 children and their caregivers on a rolling basis of 0 and 5 years old.
The survey analyzed the cognitive development of adolescents during infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and studied how the average development scores of three key areas in the COVID era were affected — the results were shocking.
The report found that since the beginning of the pandemic, scores measuring children’s IQ have fallen by 23%. The results showed that the comprehensive average result of early learning dropped by 23%, from a high of slightly below 100 in 2019 to 77 in 2021.
In this study, the researchers first analyzed 1,070 assessments of 605 children before the start of COVID lock-up and cover-up in March 2020.
Then, between March 2020 and June 2021, during the peak of the pandemic, another 154 evaluations were performed on 118 children.
At the same time, 39 children born in 2018 and 2019 were analyzed during the pandemic to 2021.
Then, the team checked three widely accepted indicators of child development—Early Learning Comprehensive (ELC), Language Developer (VDQ), and Non-verbal Developer (NVDQ).
Children’s early learning is integrated from their fine motor, visual reception, acceptance and expression language scales, and is equivalent to the early years of IQ scores.
These two development quotients measure a child's maturity in language skills and other skills, compared with a sample of children of the same age.
The findings of the study are at a time when parents around the world are struggling to solve the idea that wearing masks may interfere with children's natural learning experience and communication skills.
The results show that the overall average result of early learning has dropped by 23%, from a high of slightly below 100 in 2019 to about 80 in 2020, and finally a decrease of 77 in 2021.
At the same time, the language development quotient has also fallen sharply, from an average of 100 in 2018 to slightly less than 90 in 2020, and about 70 in 2021.
The non-language development quotient has also experienced a similar decline, from an average score of approximately 105 points in 2019 to 100 points in 2020 and approximately 80 points in 2021.
The study concluded that “compared with children born before the pandemic, children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced language, motor, and overall cognitive abilities.”
"In addition," the report added, "wearing masks in public places, schools, or daycare settings may affect a range of early development skills, such as attachment, facial processing, and social emotional processing."
Two tests to determine child development quotients were also conducted, showing that since the beginning of the pandemic, compared with a sample of young people of the same age, children’s maturity in language skills and other skills has decreased significantly
The author said that boys from poor backgrounds are most likely to experience a decline in cognitive test scores, while wealthy parents are better able to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
They explained: "Comparing the annual average scores since 2011, controlling for age, gender, demographics, and socioeconomic indicators, we found surprising evidence of a decline in children's overall cognitive function starting in 2020 and continuing through 2021.
'We found that men seem to be more affected than women, and a higher socioeconomic status (SES, as measured by maternal education) helps to cushion this negative impact.
"On a more personal level, we examined the pre-pandemic and during the pandemic longitudinal trends of the same child from 2018 to 2021, and again found the decline in capacity in 2020 and 2021."
The findings of the study are at a time when parents around the world are struggling to solve the idea that wearing masks may interfere with children's natural learning experience and communication skills.
Ashley Ruba, a postdoctoral researcher at the Children’s Emotion Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told CNN in August: “During the sensitive period of early childhood development, language development and emotional development are indeed rapid in the first few years of life. developing." .
The doctor added that developing children need to see subtle verbal or facial cues from others in order to accurately discern someone’s feelings—a skill that proves to be the most important in the child’s age.
The study pointed out: “The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the health of children. Pregnant women, individuals, and children live in a completely different economic, psychosocial, and educational environment from 18 months ago.”
In addition, Ruba further asserted that being unable to see someone's face also prevents children from judging whether something or situation is safe or dangerous.
That being said, the study pointed out that masks may not cause a sharp decline in children's cognitive abilities, adding that there may be a series of epidemic-related factors that can be attributed to the decline-especially the lack of social interaction between them. Young people who are still developing.
This happened after schools were closed for face-to-face learning. Many experts attribute the surge in children's mental health problems to lack of social contact, and a surge in youth suicides in some areas.
According to the CDC, COVID infection is often harmless to young children. Between March 2020 and November 24, 2021, only 731 confirmed COVID deaths were recorded among young people aged 0 to 18 years old. .
Many parents call for the removal of most restrictions on children, especially now that children 5 years and older can be vaccinated.
Those who want their children to keep their faces masked say that there is no way to know whether a perfectly healthy child may suffer a severe COVID infection. They also emphasized that children may not be seriously ill, but they may still transmit the infection to adults such as parents, grandparents or teachers who may suffer severe or even fatal symptoms.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the health of children. Pregnant women, individuals, and children live in a completely different economic, psychosocial, and educational environment from 18 months ago.
"In this context, questions about the impact of working from home, shelter-in-place, and other public health policies, which limit the social interactions of early childhood neurodevelopment and typical childhood experiences, remain unanswered."
It added: “Although socio-economic factors seem to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic, the main factors behind the trends we have observed remain unknown.
"Understanding these factors is essential to help ensure that affected children rebound when the pandemic ends and re-enter daycare centers and schools; and to implement additional public health and education policies to address the most affected children, especially those with low Children of income families.
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