Trotz der Befürchtung, dass pandemischer Stress die Entwicklung von Kindern schädigen würde, zeigen neue Forschungsergebnisse, dass Kleinkinder tatsächlich weniger emotionale und verhaltensbezogene Probleme aufwiesen, insbesondere in Familien mit geringerer mütterlicher Bildung, was auf versteckte Resilienzfaktoren hinweist.

A study today in JAMA Network Open involving nearly 3,500 US toddlers suggests that they had fewer parent-reported behavioral problems amid than before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

New York University (NYU)–led researchers parsed data from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort from nine sites from September 2009 to July 2023. Parents completed the 99-item Preschool Child Behavior Checklist, which asks about child anxiety, sadness, and aggression.

A total of 3,438 children with an average age of 2.3 years (range, 18 to 39 months) were categorized into three groups: the prepandemic group, who were born and evaluated for behavioral problems before March 13, 2020 (1,323 children); the pandemic-assessed group, born before that date but assessed after (1,690); and the pandemic-born group, born and evaluated on or after that date (425).

Just over half (51%) of participants were boys, 50.1% were Hispanic, 44.7% were White, and 16.2% were Black. Most mothers (52.3%) held a bachelor’s degree or greater, and 51.2% had either no insurance or public insurance.

„The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted family dynamics and broader environmental spheres, which are crucial for children’s neurodevelopment,“ the researchers wrote. „Early childhood is a period of heightened brain plasticity and sensitivity to environmental influences, making the early social environment pivotal for children’s health and well-being.“

Small but meaningful changes
Both the pandemic-assessed and pandemic-born groups had slightly but significantly lower checklist scores for internalizing problems (eg, anxiety, sadness; 1.5 to 2 points) and externalizing problems (eg, aggression, hyperactivity; 1.7 to 3.2 points) than the prepandemic group. The link was stronger among pandemic-exposed toddlers whose mothers had less than a bachelor’s degree.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2838440