TOPLINE:

Executive function scores in children aged 3 years through 11 years dropped by 0.5 SDs following the COVID pandemic onset and remained below pre-pandemic levels through 2023. The decline affected children across all socioeconomic groups similarly, with those from higher-income families experiencing relatively larger decreases compared with lower-income peers.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analyzed data from the Early Learning Study at Harvard, a population-based longitudinal study of 3107 children (50.4% girls; 74.6% White , 18.3% Hispanic , 11.8% Black, and 10.7% Asian individuals) aged 3 years through 11 years in Massachusetts from 2018 to 2023.
• Children’s executive function was measured using the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS), a tablet-based assessment administered in person during Waves 1-3 (February 2018-March 2020) and virtually during Waves 5-6 (February 2022-June 2023).
• Analysis used piecewise polynomial regression models and mixed effects growth models to estimate patterns in standardized MEFS scores before and after statewide shutdowns on March 20, 2020, using age 7.5 years as a cutoff marker.
• Outcome measures included standardized MEFS scores normed nationally on pre-pandemic children, with adjustments for age and household income to examine variation in executive development across socioeconomic groups.

TAKEAWAY:

• Following the pandemic onset, average standardized MEFS scores decreased by 0.45 SDs (95% CI, -0.58 to -0.32) in the quadratic model, with a statistically significant negative effect (P < .01).
• Before shutdowns, children’s average MEFS scores increased by 0.09 SDs/y (95% CI, 0.07-0.11), but post-shutdown growth rates decreased by 0.17 SDs/y (95% CI, -0.21 to -0.12) compared with pre-pandemic rates.
• Children from households earning ≥ $125,000 per year showed average decreases of 0.18 SDs (95% CI, -0.32 to -0.05) pre- to post-shutdown compared with those earning < $30,000 per year, indicating larger relative declines in higher-income groups.
• The correlation between pre-shutdown and post-shutdown random slopes was 0.21, suggesting that individual differences in MEFS growth trajectories before the pandemic were weakly associated with trajectories after the pandemic.

IN PRACTICE:

“Our findings overall substantiate the limited amount of research on this topic that documents EF [executive function] declines for young children over the pandemic period....The longitudinal nature of the design, the population sample, and the exogeneity of the pandemic ‘shock’ lends strong credibility to the directionality and pattern of our findings,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Stephanie M. Jones, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was published online in Child Development.

LIMITATIONS:

According to the authors, pandemic disruptions resulted in changes to data collection frequency and methodology, with a 2-year gap between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic assessments and a shift from in-person to virtual administration of the MEFS. While pilots and robustness checks suggested no differences between administration modalities, this methodological change may have affected the data. The findings are specific to the population-based sample in Massachusetts and may not be applicable nationally, limiting generalizability. Although the results provide convincing evidence of the pandemic's impact on executive function, no direct causal conclusions can be drawn from the study design.

DISCLOSURES:

Research activities received funding from the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation through the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.