THURSDAY, March 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with varying developmental health outcomes in U.S. kindergarteners, including negative developmental trends in language and cognitive development, social competence, and communication and general knowledge, according to a study published online March 10 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Judith L. Perrigo, Ph.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. kindergarteners’ developmental health in a repeated cross-sectional panel study. Developmental health trends, as measured by the Early Development Instrument (EDI), were assessed from 390 school districts across 19 states.

The sample included 475,740 U.S. kindergarten students. The researchers found that the rate of change in EDI scores was significantly lower following the pandemic onset versus the immediate prepandemic onset period in language and cognitive development, social competence, and communication and general knowledge (mean changes, −0.45, −0.03, and −0.18, respectively). Significantly higher EDI scores were seen in emotional maturity (mean change, 0.05), while there were no significant changes in the physical health and well-being domain.

“Our results identify public health prevention domains for kindergarten populations with important implications for school and health policies as the pandemic persists,” the authors write. “The negative developmental trends observed before the pandemic highlight broader challenges in early childhood development in the United States, including the association of growing wealth inequality, challenges in strengthening the early childhood workforce, and disparities in access to care and education.”

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