Effects of COVID-19 Financial and Social Hardships on Infants’ and Toddlers’ Development in the ECHO Program

Sara S. Nozadi (), Ximin Li, Xiangrong Kong, Brandon Rennie, Deborah Kanda, Debra MacKenzie, Li Luo, Jonathan Posner, Courtney K. Blackwell, Lisa A. Croen, Assiamira Ferrara, Thomas G. O’Connor, Emily Zimmerman, Akhgar Ghassabian, Leslie D. Leve, Amy J. Elliott, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Jenna L. N. Sprowles and Johnnye L. Lewis
Additional contact information
Sara S. Nozadi: Community Environmental Health Program, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
Ximin Li: Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Xiangrong Kong: Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Brandon Rennie: Department of Pediatrics, Center for Development and Disability, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87107, USA
Deborah Kanda: Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
Debra MacKenzie: Community Environmental Health Program, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
Li Luo: Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
Jonathan Posner: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705, USA
Courtney K. Blackwell: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Lisa A. Croen: Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
Assiamira Ferrara: Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
Thomas G. O’Connor: School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Emily Zimmerman: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorder, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Akhgar Ghassabian: Department of Pediatrics, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
Leslie D. Leve: Department of Counseling Psychology, College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
Amy J. Elliott: Department of Pediatrics, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD 57105, USA
Rebecca J. Schmidt: Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Jenna L. N. Sprowles: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Johnnye L. Lewis: Community Environmental Health Program, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Background: The financial hardships and social isolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic have been found to adversely affect children’s developmental outcomes. While many studies thus far have focused on school-aged children and the pandemic-related impacts on their academic skills and behavior problems, relatively less is known about pandemic hardships and associations with children’s development during their early years. Using a racially and economically diverse sample, we examined whether hardships experienced during the pandemic were associated with children’s development with a particular focus on communication and socioemotional development. Methods: Participants from eight cohorts of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program provided data on pandemic-related financial and social hardships as well as child developmental outcomes. Financial hardship was defined as at least one parent experiencing job loss or change, and social hardship was defined as families’ quarantining from household members or extended family and friends. The development of children under 4 was assessed longitudinally, before and during the pandemic (N = 684), using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). The Generalized Estimating Equations, which accounted for within-child correlation, were used for analysis. Results: Families from minority backgrounds and low socioeconomic status disproportionately experienced pandemic-related hardships. Male children had higher odds of experiencing negative changes in communication and personal social skills from pre- to during-pandemic visits (ORs ranged between 2.24 and 3.03 in analysis with binary ASQ outcomes and ranged from −0.34–0.36 in analyses with ASQ z-scores, p s = 0.000). Pandemic-related hardships in the social and financial areas did not explain within-individual changes in children’s developmental outcomes. Conclusion: Negative developmental changes from pre- to during-pandemic were found in boys, yet we did not find any associations between increased experience of pandemic-related hardships and children’s development. E how pandemic hardships affect development using a larger sample size and with longer follow-up is warranted.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic-related hardships; ages and stages questionnaire; ASQ; early development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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