Lockdowns may have affected pandemic babies’ social communication skills

The forced isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown may have affected the social communication skills of babies born during these periods, research published online suggests Archives of childhood illnesses.

The results show that fewer such milestones were reached in the first year of life. It is hoped that these delays will be reversed when “normal life” resumes. But it might be worth monitoring the development of these children up to school age to make sure there aren’t any long-lasting effects, the researchers suggest.

Language development in babies is complex, with younger babies fixating on the eyes of caregivers during interactions, while older babies tend to shift their gaze from their eyes to their mouths, the researchers explain.

Before the advent of coronavirus vaccines, mass lockdowns and mask-wearing were used to stem the spread of COVID-19 infection, limit babies’ interactions with people outside the home, and potentially limit their access to visual and facial cues for language development.

To assess the potential impact of these measures, the researchers assessed 10 parent-reported developmental outcomes of 309 “pandemic” babies aged 12 months.

The babies were part of the CORAL study (Impact of CoronaVirus Pandemic on Allergic and Autoimmune Dysregulation in Infants Born While Lockdown) and were all born in Ireland during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March-May 2020).

The 10 development outcomes included the ability to: crawl; walk sideways along furniture; standalone; picking up small objects with thumb and forefinger (pincer grip); stack bricks; finger feed; know their own name; to express a definite and meaningful word; point at objects; and to wave “bye-bye”.

These results were compared one year after birth to those of 1629 infants from the BASELINE study (Babies After SCOPE: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact using Neurological and Nutritional Impact), which included babies born in Ireland between 2008 and 2011.

The babies in the CORAL study were born slightly earlier on average than the babies in the BASELINE study, and there were significantly fewer firstborns in the CORAL study: 45% (138) versus 84% ​​(1364). The proportion of mothers with a university degree (postgraduate degree or higher) was also higher in the CORAL group: 94.5% (292) vs. 88% (1431).

Comparing the results showed that slightly fewer infants in the CORAL study had achieved milestones in the development of social communication, as reported by their parents, than infants in the BASELINE study.

More toddlers in the CORAL study could crawl (97.5% vs. 91%), but fewer could express a specific and meaningful word (77% vs. just over 89%), point (84% vs. 93%) and wave . Goodbye” (88% vs. 94.5%).

After accounting for potentially influential factors, including the child’s age at the time the questionnaire was completed, gestational age in weeks, birth order, and maternal educational attainment, differences in the results between the two groups were still evident.

CORAL study children were less likely to have a specific and meaningful word at 12 months of age, were less likely to be able to point, and were less likely to wave goodbye.

However, they were still more likely to be crawling at 12 months of age than their peers in the BASELINE study, which may be because they tended to spend more time indoors and on the floor than outdoors in cars and strollers , the researchers suggest.

To explain the other findings, the researchers suggest that lockdown measures may have reduced the repertoire of language heard and the sight of unmasked faces speaking to them, while at the same time limiting opportunities to encounter new items of interest relevant to the Show could prompt and frequency of social contact to learn to wave goodbye.

This is an observational study and as such no firm conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn. The two groups weren’t exactly alike, and the results relied on parental recall, the researchers concede.

“While neurodevelopment is in part genetically mediated, parental education and social exposure play important roles. It is extremely difficult to work out the direct effects of early enrichment,” they add.

They conclude: “The social isolation associated with the pandemic appears to have had an impact on the social communication skills of babies born during the pandemic compared to a historical cohort. In social circles, their social communication skills will improve.” However, this cohort and others need to be followed through to school age to ensure this is the case.”