Infants born during the pandemic produced significantly fewer vocalizations and had less verbal back-and-forth with their caretakers compared to those born before COVID, according to independent studies by Brown University and a national nonprofit focused on early language development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both research teams used the nonprofit LENA\u2019s \u201ctalk pedometer\u201d technology<\/a> to glean their findings. The wearable device delivers detailed information on what children hear throughout the day. It measures the number of words spoken near the child in addition to the child\u2019s own language-related vocalizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. <\/em>Sign up for The 74 Newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p> It also counts child-adult interactions, called \u201cconversational turns,\u201d which both research groups say are critical to language acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is the conversational turns that drive brain development,\u201d said Brown\u2019s Sean Deoni, adding he\u2019s concerned for the long-term success of children born after the pandemic began. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The joint finding is the latest troubling evidence<\/a> of developmental delays<\/a> discovered when researchers compared babies born before and after COVID. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Deoni is principal investigator at Brown\u2019s Advanced Baby Imaging Lab. He and other staffers there first spotted the problem when they noticed that children who visited the lab after March 2020 took longer to complete cognitive tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were not as attentive, or at least not performing as well as we normally have seen,\u201d Deoni said. It was this change that prompted him to take a new look at various data points gathered from the nearly 800 children his facility has worked with in recent years. After examining their neuroimaging and neurocognitive results, he and his team found child motor and language scores decreased sharply in 2021 and 2022, prompting them to search for an explanation for the decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inquiry led them to analyze information gathered from children ages 12 and 16 months who were born before 2019 \u2014 well before the COVID outbreak \u2014 and after July 2020, months into its spread. The results showed a major drop in verbal functioning between the two groups. Those born after COVID demonstrated slower verbal growth over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tests showed, too, these babies experienced a significantly slower rate of white matter\u00a0development versus the children from studies done before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhite matter is basically the wiring of the brain,\u201d Deoni said. \u201cIt\u2019s what carries information throughout the brain and to different cortical regions where it is processed. White matter damage, for example, is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis. Reduced white matter development is associated with reduced cognitive development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deoni and his team also found a significant drop in adult words per hour and conversational turns between the two groups of children. The deficit will have a significant impact on kids he said, citing his own group\u2019s earlier research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither research team focused on the cause of the drop in caregiver interactions with babies, only the outcome, though Deoni cited the heightened stress, depression and burnout associated with the pandemic as possible explanations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jill Gilkerson, a linguist specializing in early language acquisition and LENA\u2019s chief research and evaluation officer, said the reasons might differ from one household to the next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we are going to be able to find a single cause to point to, and I\u2019m not sure that we need to,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hope this data validates concerns caregivers may be having, helps them know they are not alone in those feelings and furthers the conversation about the need to invest in support for families at every level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LENA\u2019s study showed child vocalizations dropped significantly across all groups of children, but particularly among those from the lowest socioeconomic level. The frequency of caregiver\/child conversations also decreased dramatically, particularly among children from the poorest families, it found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s often the case that when these adverse events happen, it\u2019s those who are already the most vulnerable that are hit the hardest\u2026 and I think that we are seeing this here,\u201d Gilkerson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The connection between economic security and language acquisition was very much a pre-pandemic concern as well. A landmark 1995 study<\/a> found that children growing up in low-income households hear 30 million fewer words than their peers from high-income backgrounds. A 2018 study raised questions about the extent of the gap, but the science is clear that children\u2019s first three years are the most critical time for brain development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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