Peer-reviewed article
Developmental outcomes in 4-year-old children born in the first COVID-19 lockdown in England: preliminary findings from the Born In COVID Year - Core Lockdown Effects (BICYCLE) study.
Botting N, Del Rosario C, Flynn J, Reimers S, Davies C et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study assessed developmental outcomes in 205 children aged 4 years who were born during England's COVID-19 lockdowns and experienced limited social exposure during a critical developmental period. Children showed higher-than-expected language and reasoning abilities compared to pre-pandemic norms, but notably lower executive function skills as reported by caregivers. When compared to their own non-verbal reasoning abilities, children showed particular weaknesses in expressive language and motor skills, suggesting potential educational vulnerabilities despite some cognitive strengths.
Key points
- Sentence structure, expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary and non-verbal reasoning were significantly higher than prepandemic normative expectations
- Caregiver-reported executive function (Global Executive Composite and Emergent Metacognition Index) was notably lower than expected, identified as the most concerning area
- When benchmarked against children's own non-verbal reasoning abilities, expressive language, word structure, motor skills and executive function were lower than cognitive potential
- Word structure and motor skills showed no difference from prepandemic norms when compared directly
- Findings suggest these children may face educational vulnerabilities and need targeted support despite some cognitive strengths
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional observational study with no comparison group of children born before the pandemic, so causation cannot be established. The study relies on caregiver reports for executive function, which may not capture the full picture of children's actual abilities in different settings.
Abstract
Background/objective Children born during England's COVID-19 lockdowns experienced markedly limited social exposure during a crucial developmental window. Given the importance of early interactions in shaping language, executive function and motor skills, this observational cross-sectional study examined developmental outcomes at age 4. Methods 205 children born in lockdown were assessed using standardised measures with published prepandemic norms: expressive vocabulary, expressive language and receptive language (Expressive Vocabulary, Word Structure and Sentence Structure subtests of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-second UK edition); receptive vocabulary (British Picture Vocabulary Scale, third edition); executive function (Global Executive Composite (GEC) and Emergent Metacognition Index (EMI) subscales of the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool); motor skills (Motor Skills subscale from the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales) and non-verbal reasoning (Matrices subtest from the British Ability Scales-3). Analyses (n=189-205) compared scores against prepandemic normative expectations and a within-sample benchmark of non-verbal reasoning to assess strengths and weaknesses against general cognitive development. Results Compared with normative expectations, Sentence Structure (d=0.59), Expressive Vocabulary (d=0.24), receptive vocabulary (d=0.47) and Matrices (d=0.42) were significantly higher than expected for age. Caregiver-reported executive function was notably lower (GEC, d=-0.46; EMI, d=-0.36), while Word Structure (d=0.01) and Motor Skills (d=0.09) showed no differences. Benchmarked against non-verbal reasoning, Word Structure (d=-0.35), Expressive Vocabulary (d=-0.22), executive function (GEC, d=-0.72; EMI, d=-0.63) and Motor Skills (d=-0.33) were lower than cognitive potential. Sentence Structure (d=0.08) and receptive vocabulary (d=-0.01) were consistent with non-verbal reasoning. Conclusions Caregiver-reported executive function was the most noteworthy area of concern for children born in lockdown. Expressive language and motor skills were lower than a benchmark of non-verbal reasoning, suggesting some impacts in relation to cognitive potential. This may lead to educational vulnerabilities and additional support needs in classrooms. Overall, these findings offer valuable early insight into postpandemic developmental impacts and underscore the urgent need for responsive educational policy and targeted support for those now in schooling.