Vocabulary of young children smaller after corona pandemic
Utrecht sets out to improve children's reading skills
The vocabulary of young children appears to be smaller after the corona period than the vocabulary of their peers before the corona period. So write Anika van der Klis and Caroline Junge, youth researchers at Utrecht University. The main findings of their research, conducted on behalf of the Utrecht municipality, are collected in the fact sheet The effects of the corona period on the language and socio-emotional development of young children in the Utrecht municipality (in Dutch).
The researchers used data from the YOUth study (in Dutch), a long-term, Utrecht-based study on children's healthy development. They looked at both data from 742 participants living in the municipality of Utrecht, and data from the entire sample of 2166 participants from the province of Utrecht. Van der Klis: ‘Because data were collected within YOUth between 2015 and 2023, we were able to compare children's development before, during and after the pandemic.’
Vocabulary
In children between 2 and 4 years old, Van der Klis and Junge measured language skills with a vocabulary task and a parental questionnaire. Although parents reported no difference in vocabulary, the vocabulary task revealed that toddlers from across the province had a smaller vocabulary after the pandemic than toddlers before the pandemic (see figure below).
Social-emotional development
In addition, the researchers looked at social-emotional development in infants aged 5 months, 10 months, and 2 to 4 years old. Van der Klis: ‘Babies have slower socio-emotional development after the coronas compared to their pre-pandemic peers (see figure below). The parent questionnaire showed that babies from the municipality of Utrecht were more likely to show social-emotional problems after the pandemic, such as not being able to calm down within half an hour, or when the child is overly anxious or fearful. Among toddlers, we found no differences.’
The Utrecht municipality commissioned the study to understand the effects of corona on young children's language and socio-emotional development. According to the Utrecht scientists, these results suggest that corona is still visible in the long-term language and socio-emotional development of young children in Utrecht.
Youth doctors
Councillor Eelco Eerenberg, Public Health: ‘Children's first 1,000 days are crucial. Children born in the corona period or just before have a proven disadvantage. That's why we need to do even better to help them catch up. In Utrecht, we are already working hard on the social-emotional development and language development of young children. For instance, youth doctors pay home visits to some children to give parents tips on how to stimulate their child's development. In addition, in cooperation with Taal Doet Meer, we deploy interventions such as the Voorleesexpress (volunteers who read to families at home) and various forms of parent-child groups for parents of young children.’