Giesbrecht Gerald F, van de Wouw Marcel, Watts Dana, Perdue Meaghan V, Graham Susan, Lai Beatrice P Y, Tomfohr-Madsen Lianne, Lebel Catherine
Department of Paediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI), Calgary, AB, Canada.
Pediatr Res. 2024 Sep 18. doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03583-9.
Public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered the socioecological context in which children were developing.
Using Bronfenbrenner's socioecological theory, we investigate language acquisition among 2-year-old children (n = 4037) born during the pandemic. We focus on "late talkers", defined as children below the 10th percentile on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories-III.
Overall, the proportion of late talkers declined as a function of pandemic wave, with 13.0% of those born during the first wave classified as late talkers compared to 10.4% born in wave two, and 8.0% born during wave three. In sex-based analysis, we observed a 15.9% prevalence of late talking among female toddlers, which was significantly different from the norming sample. In contrast, the prevalence of late talking among male toddlers was 9.1%. Using hierarchical logistic regression to identify both proximal and distal factors associated with being a late talker, we found that male sex, lower socioeconomic status, greater screen time, receiving childcare at home, disruptions to childcare, and experiencing greater exposure to public health restrictions were associated with increased odds for being a late talker.
We interpret the findings in relation to the need to consider the special needs of young children in disaster preparation and response.
Two-year-old children acquiring language in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have vocabulary size similar to historical norms. A higher-than-expected prevalence of late talkers (below the 10th percentile) was observed among females and children born during the first wave of the pandemic. Motivated by Bronfenbrenner's socioecological theory, we show that both proximal and distal environmental factors are associated with vocabulary size. Infants exposed to stricter public measures had reduced vocabulary size. The findings suggest a need to recognize the developmental needs of children as part of the public health response to emergencies.
2019年冠状病毒病疫情期间实施的公共卫生措施从根本上改变了儿童成长的社会生态环境。
运用布朗芬布伦纳的社会生态理论，我们调查了疫情期间出生的2岁儿童（n = 4037）的语言习得情况。我们关注“说话晚的孩子”，即麦克阿瑟-贝茨交流发展量表第三版得分处于第10百分位以下的儿童。
总体而言，说话晚的孩子的比例随疫情波次而下降，第一波疫情期间出生的孩子中有13.0%被归类为说话晚的孩子，相比之下，第二波疫情期间出生的这一比例为10.4%，第三波疫情期间出生的为8.0%。在基于性别的分析中，我们观察到女幼儿中说话晚的患病率为15.9%，这与标准化样本有显著差异。相比之下，男幼儿中说话晚的患病率为9.1%。运用分层逻辑回归来确定与成为说话晚的孩子相关的近端和远端因素，我们发现男性、社会经济地位较低、屏幕使用时间较长、在家接受托儿服务、托儿服务中断以及更多地暴露于公共卫生限制之下，都与成为说话晚的孩子的几率增加有关。
我们结合在灾难准备和应对中考虑幼儿特殊需求的必要性来解读这些发现。
在2019年冠状病毒病疫情背景下学习语言的2岁儿童的词汇量与历史标准相似。在女性以及疫情第一波期间出生的儿童中，观察到说话晚的孩子（低于第10百分位）的患病率高于预期。受布朗芬布伦纳社会生态理论的启发，我们表明近端和远端环境因素都与词汇量有关。接触更严格公共措施的婴儿词汇量减少。研究结果表明，有必要认识到儿童的发展需求是公共卫生应对紧急情况的一部分。
