Infants' and toddlers' language development during the pandemic: Socioeconomic status mattered

Priscilla Fung; Thomas St Pierre; Momina Raja; Elizabeth K Johnson

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105744

Infants' and toddlers' language development during the pandemic: Socioeconomic status mattered

J Exp Child Psychol. 2023 Dec:236:105744. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105744. Epub 2023 Jul 22.

Authors

Priscilla Fung¹, Thomas St Pierre², Momina Raja³, Elizabeth K Johnson⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada. Electronic address: priscilla.fung@mail.utoronto.ca.
² Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada; Department of Languages, Literature and Communication, Utrecht University, 3512 JK Utrecht, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4J1, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada.

PMID: 37487265
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105744

Abstract

The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about children's development. Here, we examined the impact of the pandemic on Canadian infants' and toddlers' (N = 539) language development. Specifically, we assessed changes in 11- to 34-month-olds' activities that are known to affect vocabulary development (i.e., screen and reading times). We also compared these children's vocabulary sizes with those of 1365 children collected before the pandemic using standardized vocabulary assessments. Our results show that screen and reading times were most negatively affected in lower-income children. For vocabulary growth, no measurable change was detected in middle- and high-income children, but lower-income 19- to 29-month-olds fared worse during the pandemic than during pre-pandemic times. Moving forward, these data indicate that educators and policymakers should pay particular attention to children from families with lower socioeconomic status during times of crisis and stress.

Keywords: Book reading; COVID-19 pandemic; Child development; Screen exposure; Socioeconomic status (SES); Vocabulary development.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Canada / epidemiology
Child, Preschool
Humans
Infant
Language Development
Pandemics
Social Class