Publication date: May 27, 2025
The changes in social life and education settings associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the social development of infants who are particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors. The present observational study compared infants’ social development in a group examined prior vs. a group examined during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated the role of maternal media use. We also explored if any single developmental tasks were specifically affected. Trained examiners assessed social developmental scores of 1860 healthy infants (0-24 months; mean age: 9. 1 months, SD = 6. 5) via a standardized developmental test. An adjusted regression model showed significantly lower social developmental T-values (B = -1. 790, 95 % CI: [-2. 682; -0. 898) for infants examined during the pandemic as well as for infants with a longer duration of exposure to the pandemic (B = -0. 131, 95 % CI: [-0. 239; -0. 023]). The effect was partially mediated by maternal media use (direct effect: B = -1. 35; total effect: B = -1. 65, p
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| 24months | Children |
| Environmental | Family environment |
| Germany | Media consumption |
| Infants | Pandemic |
| Pandemic | Social learning |
| Social skills |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 pandemic |
| disease | IDO | role |