'Lost generation': Covid lockdowns 'caused higher levels of developmental delay in toddlers'

Researchers from Edinburgh University have carried out Europe’s largest probe into the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on Scottish infants.

The findings have led opposition politicians to demand steps are taken to mitigate the long-term effects of pandemic decisions.

The study of almost 258,000 children in Scotland found an increase in the proportion of toddlers showing any developmental issues throughout the period of lockdown and social distancing measures between March 2020 and August 2021.

This increase was greater for those who experienced a longer period of social distancing measures with up to a 6.6 per cent increase.

Researcher Dr Iain Hardie of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: “Covid-19 public health and social measures played a vital role in curbing the spread of infections during the pandemic.

“However, the findings of our study suggest that they also appear to have been associated with increased early childhood development concerns.”

Early child development, including speech and language skills, physical movement and emotional growth were affected by lockdown, the study suggests.

The University of Edinburgh-led study measured relationships between lockdown measures and developmental concerns identified by the health visitors of young children.

Carried out with support from Public Health Scotland scientists, the University of Dundee, the University of Sheffield and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Italy, the study is the largest of its kind in Europe.

Researchers assessed data from routine health reviews and examined the proportion of children with any concerns raised by health visitors regarding their development over time.

They looked at more than 80 per cent of all children in Scotland who were aged 13 to 15 months and 27 to 30 months between January 2019 and August 2023.

Evidence of increased developmental concerns among children was found, with up to a 6.6 percentage points increase in the proportion of children with at least one developmental concern across the 72 weeks where lockdown measures were in place from March 2020 to August 2021.

The findings came as little surprise to mother-of-two Sarah-May Griffin, whose older son Cillian was born in 2020.

Mrs Griffin, a teacher, said class and wealth differences during the pandemic were important considerations in the support families pursued and were able to procure for their children.

While she said there was a “massive gap” in the ability to allow Cillian chances for socialisation, she will never know whether the five-year-old is naturally shy or affected by lockdown.

“I feel Cillian has grown up shy and was unable to socialise because of lockdown,” she said.

“But that doesn't go for others in his class so I don’t really know if that is just Cillian or if that is due to the pandemic.

“I think in my case, I was very lucky that Cillian was born during the pandemic rather than shortly before it so he didn't get the full brunt of it - he was just a baby.”

Frances Marshall, also a mother to two young sons, says she sees a huge difference between her older boy, Campbell, nine, and her six-year-old, Michael.

“With Campbell I joined every club I could think of to promote his early development,” the 40-year-old said.

“With Michael everything was online at best.

“Despite doing my all, bounce and rhyme over Zoom is just not the same as in-person.

“He was far slower to speak than his older brother and I’m sure that’s lockdown-related.”

Roz McCall, Scottish Conservative children and young people spokeswoman, said: “These concerning findings confirm what many feared about the impact the pandemic had on our young people.”

The MSP said restrictions had a “disproportionate impact on children”, affecting their ability to socialise at a key stage in development.

Ms McCall added: “The balance between protecting public health and prioritising our children was often wrong on the SNP’s watch during Covid.

“It is essential that we recognise the detrimental impact on developing young minds and urgently take steps to rectify the situation or we will have produced a lost generation.”

Findings were consistent across different types of developmental concerns including problem solving, speech and behaviour.

The proportion of children with developmental concerns remained higher than pre-pandemic levels even after lockdown and social distancing measures were removed in August 2021.

Notably, developmental concerns at 13 to 15 months continued to rise even after the public health and social measures were lifted, while developmental concerns at the 27 to 30 month reviews stopped increasing but remained above pre-pandemic levels.

Martin Whitfield, the Scottish Labour spokesman for children and young people, said that, while the pandemic had “profound effects” across society, some groups faced significant challenges.

The MSP said: “This includes children and young people, who had to deal with schools being closed and moving to virtual learning, affecting their educational and social development as they were separated from teachers and friends.

“We must acknowledge the ongoing effects of this and ensure that support is available when it is needed to help young to people learn and grow.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP said: “This demonstrates just how damaging the pandemic and lockdown were for children.

“While steps had to be taken to stop the spread of infection, the SNP never did enough to help families with the impact of those measures on their children.

“There is a lot of work still to be done to get these children back on course.”

Principal researcher and originator of the CHILDS study Professor Bonnie Auyeung, of the University of Edinburgh’, added: “We hope this work will help inform the discussion about how best to support children from the Covid-19 era as they develop over the coming years.”

The study is to be published in the medical journal The Lancet.

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.