The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the social cognition skills of preschoolers, with children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds showing a notable decline in false-belief understanding. A study by UC Merced researchers found that before the pandemic, 80% of 5-year-olds passed this crucial task, which assesses their ability to recognize when others may be wrong. However, after lockdowns, only 63% of children from similar socioeconomic backgrounds passed.
The study also showed that higher-income families experienced little cognitive effect from the lockdowns, while those with lower financial resources and parents with less education saw a significant drop in false-belief skills. Researchers suggest that this difference may be due to the increased stress and reduced communication between low-income parents and their children during the pandemic.
Follow-up tests conducted in 2023 confirmed that the negative impact on social cognition skills persisted, even after nearly three years of post-pandemic life. The findings have been widely praised by experts, who attribute them to the lockdowns’ disruption of preschoolers’ social norms.
According to Professor Rose Scott, lead author of the study, false-belief understanding is a vital skill for social cooperation, communication, and learning. Children who struggle with this skill may face difficulties in interacting with peers or finding academic tasks challenging.
Scott notes that toddlers who fall behind in cognitive skills may grow into students struggling to get along with peers or find academic tasks more difficult. The study’s findings highlight the importance of considering preschoolers’ social cognition skills when understanding their long-term effects on development and education.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-covid-lockdowns-disrupted-crucial-social.html