A recent study by Michigan State University College of Education scholars sheds light on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social and emotional development of young children and the stress levels of their caregivers. Published in the Early Childhood Education Journal in August 2024, the study examined how children with and without disabilities responded to the disruption in in-person schooling and evaluated caregiver stress during this period.
The team, consisting of Assistant Professor Charis Lauren Wahman, Associate Professor Kristin Rispoli and Assistant Professor Allison Cascarilla, surveyed 229 caregivers of children aged 3 to 5. Their motive was to understand the role of school enrollment and the mode of instruction – in-person, hybrid or remote – in shaping children’s social-emotional outcomes.
“During the pandemic, there were a lot of studies looking at how the pandemic was impacting children and families from different perspectives, but there was not much in the literature focusing on young children’s social-emotional development and caregiver stress with a focus on children with disabilities,” said Wahman. “We [the research team] thought that it would be important to capture this group of children and families.”
Using well-established tools, like the Ages and Stages Questionnaire and the Parent Stress Index, the researchers collected data on children’s social-emotional development and their caregivers’ stress levels during the pandemic.
Key findings
A significant finding was the heightened risk of social-emotional difficulties among children with disabilities. Specifically, children with disabilities faced more developmental challenges in areas like self-regulation, communication and adaptive functioning – common daily tasks – compared to their peers without disabilities.
A contributing factor was the abrupt disruption of support services provided to students with disabilities and general peer-to-peer interaction.
“It was hard for parents to imitate what was going on in the classroom and provide those same experiences in a home setting,” said Cascarilla, who administered the survey and assisted with data analysis. “A lot of students with disabilities receive comprehensive early intensive supports in schools, which was completely terminated during the pandemic.”
Interestingly, the study shows that while children enrolled in in-person schooling generally exhibited better social and emotional adjustment, this benefit diminished when caregivers reported high stress levels.
“Higher demands come with parenting a child with special needs, including the ability to access services and, similarly, frustrations that can happen when disruptions are made to those services,” explained Rispoli. “There’s a higher level of psychological burden that results in caregiver stress.”
According to Rispoli, when caregivers have fewer emotional, psychological and logistical resources available, engaging in positive, warm, effective parenting becomes more difficult. A staggering 45% of the caregivers surveyed reported losing childcare during the pandemic.
Implications for future policy and practice
The research team emphasized the need for comprehensive support systems that foster whole-family functioning.
“We need support systems that not only address the social-emotional needs of young children but interventions that target the mental health functioning of caregivers as well, particularly those supporting children with disabilities,” added Wahman.
“This may not be the last time something like this ever happens in our lifetime, whether it is another pandemic or other systems-altering event,” said Cascarilla. “We should learn from the data and put more policies and practices in place that support high-quality online education for children.”