Pandemic-Born Preschoolers: Findings on Developmental Outcomes

In a cross-sectional sample of preschoolers assessed after the onset of COVID-19, children who were in utero or ≤5 months old at the start of the pandemic had worse caregiver-rated executive function and lower fine-motor scores than peers born before the pandemic, while receptive vocabulary and social-emotional screening scores did not differ.

Children were recruited through the Building Brains Together program and assessed in daycare or preschool settings in Southern Alberta. The study enrolled 103 children aged 3 to 5 years, including a pre-pandemic cohort (n=63) and a pandemic-born cohort (n=40) defined as having been in utero or ≤5 months old at the onset of March 2020 restrictions. Caregivers completed standardized questionnaires capturing executive function and developmental screening: the BRIEF-P for caregiver-rated executive function behaviors, the ASQ-3 for developmental domains, and the ASQ:SE-2 for social-emotional development. Children completed an examiner-administered receptive vocabulary measure (PPVT-V). Caregiver questionnaires also included contextual surveys, including caregiver ACE self-report and the Parents’ Assessment of Protective Factors (PAPF), with results presented as between-cohort comparisons across these measures.

Caregiver ratings on the BRIEF-P differed between cohorts, with higher (worse) executive function T-scores reported for children born during the pandemic era. Statistically significant between-group differences were highlighted on the Shift scale, the Flexibility Index, and the Global Executive Composite. The pattern described a caregiver-reported executive function profile difference between cohorts in this sample.

Developmental screening results showed a domain-specific pattern: the pandemic-born cohort had lower ASQ-3 fine motor scores, along with higher caregiver-reported rates of hearing/speech/language impairment and higher enrollment in speech/language therapy; caregivers also reported more frequent ear infections.

Several measures were reported as not differing between cohorts, including PPVT-V vocabulary standard scores, ASQ-3 communication, gross motor, problem solving, and personal-social domain scores, and ASQ:SE-2 social-emotional scores.