Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Child Development: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis.

Only 3 studies contributed to the continuous meta-analysis and 8 to the dichotomous one, so the pooled estimates rest on a very small evidence base. Heterogeneity was very high in every domain (I-squared JWR above 76% in all cases), meaning the included studies were not estimating the same underlying effect and the pooled numbers should be read with caution. The studies used different age ranges, different assessments, different definitions of developmental delay, and different recruitment settings (hospitals, schools, social media, medical records), making direct comparison difficult. Some studies changed their assessment procedure during the pandemic (remote visits, masks during testing, remote data collection), which could have affected scores independently of the child's development. Parent-report measures may reflect increased parental stress or more time spent observing the child during lockdown, not just the child's actual ability. The search was limited to articles published before March 23, 2023, so more recent data are not included. The meta-analysis did not stratify by whether the outcome came from a parent-report questionnaire versus a practitioner-administered test, even though the authors note these may capture different things.

Do not read this as evidence that the pandemic caused broad developmental harm in young children. The overall development finding was null on both analyses (p = 0.18 and p = 0.20), and the significant language and communication effect came from a meta-analysis with very high heterogeneity, meaning the included studies were not measuring the same thing. The motor and cognitive domains showed no significant difference.