Impact of COVID-19 social isolation measures on early development
Researchers investigate impact of lockdown measures on 8- to 36-month-old infants across 13 countries

Date:
February 7, 2022
Source:
University of Go"ttingen
Summary:
Researchers from 13 countries investigated the impact of COVID-19
related social isolation measures on 2,200 young infants and
toddlers between 8 and 36 months of age. Their findings provide
insights into the effects of lockdown on language acquisition and
screen time in the generation of youngsters growing up during this
extraordinary period.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
An international consortium with researchers from 13 countries has
investigated the impact of Covid-19 related social isolation measures
on 2,200 young infants and toddlers between 8 and 36 months of
age. Their findings provide insights into the effects of lockdown on
language acquisition and screen time in the generation of youngsters
growing up during this extraordinary period. A study on the impact of lockdown-related activities on language development, led by the University
of Oslo, was published in the journal Language Development Research.A
second study on the increase in screen-time during lockdown and its
impact on language development, led by the University of Go"ttingen
with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and
the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, was
published in the journal Scientific Reports.


========================================================================== Shortly after lockdown began in early March 2020 across 13 countries,
parents were asked to complete an online questionnaire containing
questions on the child's age, exposure to different languages, number
of siblings and vocabulary development. Parents were then contacted
again at the end of the lockdown (for that family or in that area, in
general). They were asked about the activities that they undertook with
their child during lockdown, the amount of time their child had access
to screens both during lockdown and before, as well as questions on how
much screen time they typically had themselves and their attitudes towards children's screen time. Parents were also asked to complete a standardized vocabulary checklist indicating the number of words their child understood and/or said at the beginning, and again, at the end of lockdown so that an increase in the number of words gained over lockdown could be calculated.

The studies find that, during lockdown, children who were read to more frequently were reported by their caregivers to have learned more words, relative to their peers who were read to less frequently. However,
children with increased exposure to screens learned to say fewer words, relative to their peers with less screen time. In addition, while children
were exposed to more screen time during lockdown than before, overall,
children were reported to have gained more words than expected during
lockdown, relative to pre- pandemic levels. The increase in screen time
during lockdown was greater if lockdown was longer, and in families with
fewer years of education, and where parents reported using screens for
longer themselves.

"Identifying the effects of parent-child activities on the child's
vocabulary growth is a significant finding, given that we assessed changes
in children's vocabularies over an average period of just over one month
in our study," says Professor Julien Mayor, University of Oslo.

"While this suggests that the relatively short isolation did not
detrimentally impact language in young children, we should be cautious
in assuming this would apply during normal times or to longer lockdowns,
given the extraordinary circumstances that children and their parents
faced during this time," adds Associate Professor Natalia Kartushina, University of Oslo.

Indeed, the authors attribute increased screen time precisely to the unprecedented circumstances that families found themselves in during
lockdown, including but not limited to the closure of day care centres,
sport facilities and play groups for children. "Many caregivers were in
the novel situation of caring for and entertaining their young infants
at home all day without recourse to other activities and in addition to
their other responsibilities.

Allowing your child increased screen time is an understandable solution to
this unprecedented situation, in which caregivers were juggling multiple responsibilities -- meetings at work or chores that require concentration, together with a small child who needs entertaining. We've all done it
during lockdown," says Professor Nivedita Mani, University of Go"ttingen.

The authors suggest, therefore, that it makes sense that even young
children - - who had no online schooling or attendance requirements -- had increased screen time during lockdown. Nevertheless, the authors find it reassuring, that despite having increased exposure to screen time during lockdown, children learned more words during the lockdown period in March
2020, relative to before the pandemic. This is potentially due to other activities that parents undertook with their children during lockdown.

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dreams in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Go"ttingen. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Christina Bergmann, Nevena Dimitrova, Khadeejah Alaslani, Alaa
Almohammadi, Haifa Alroqi, Suzanne Aussems, Mihaela Barokova,
Catherine Davies, Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez, Shannon P. Gibson, Naomi
Havron, Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, Junko Kanero, Natalia Kartushina,
Christina Keller, Julien Mayor, Roger Mundry, Jeanne Shinskey,
Nivedita Mani. Young children's screen time during the first
COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries. Scientific Reports, 2022; 12
(1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022- 05840-5
2. Natalia Kartushina et al. COVID-19 First Lockdown as a Window into
Language Acquisition: Associations Between Caregiver-child
Activities and Vocabulary Gains. Language Development Research,
2022; DOI: 10.34842/ abym-xv34 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220207083421.htm

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