New research reveals that children’s problems with making friends, managing emotions, and self-esteem didn’t just disappear when routines went back to “normal” after the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, these struggles got worse in 2022-2023 for some kids.
Another study, conducted in the United Kingdom, found that many caregivers and teachers noticed that young children were more irritable and had trouble calming down during the pandemic. Others often struggled to share with their peers or had trouble following directions at home. However, most adults assumed that children would “bounce back” when schools reopened. Instead, the pandemic’s effects continued to show up gradually, with different age groups facing gaps in behavior and learning.
Emotional development isn’t linear, according to Luis Anunciação, professor of psychometrics at the University of Oregon and lead author of the Preventive Medicine study. What appeared to be recovery early on may have covered up delays. These types of delays can be quantified with a scientific measure called “socioemotional risk” (or social-emotional risk), which captures behavioral patterns that negatively impact a child’s ability to connect with others and manage emotions. For example, children may refuse to share toys and get into arguments with their classmates. They might cry more easily or show more irritability. Everyday stressors, like following a schedule or switching from activity to activity in school, can trigger reactions that range from withdrawal to mood swings. Some children may have signs of obsessive compulsive tendencies, or overly repetitive behaviors, that make it hard to follow rules. Recognizing these patterns helps parents, teachers, and researchers provide the right kind of support.
“The fact that we saw [socioemotional] risk rise again several years after the height of the pandemic was very surprising,” said Anunciação. “It shows we’re still catching up, and some children might be getting left behind.”
In his study, Anunciação and colleagues —Jane Squires, Jantina Clifford, and Kimberly Murphy—evaluated over 25,000 children aged 2 months to 5 years between 2018 and 2024, giving researchers a unique view of trends before, during, and after the pandemic. Caregivers completed a standardized questionnaire, called the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition, which asks about a range of behaviors, like how children handle stress. To make sure they were comparing groups of similar children, the researchers clustered those who shared important characteristics, including age, family income, and caregiving environment, in their analysis. By examining consistent measures over time, they could detect shifts in socioemotional risk that might have been overlooked in other studies.
The results revealed a surprising pattern. Social-emotional risk initially dipped during the early pandemic years of 2020–2021, likely reflecting more parental time at home for some children. However, by 2022 and 2023, risk levels rose sharply. Children from lower-income families or disrupted caregiving environments were particularly vulnerable. Therefore, these findings underscore the importance of sustained socioemotional monitoring across early childhood and the implementation of targeted post-pandemic supports, particularly for children exposed to socio-economic adversity or caregiving disruption.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has had lingering effects on behavior and social-emotional learning in children.
- These gaps have been masked by both remote learning and, a few years later, the reopening of schools.
- It is important to recognize delays so they don’t grow into bigger challenges.
“We expected the biggest effects during 2020, but what we saw was more complex; some children’s skills actually worsened later,” said Jane Squires, a professor of special education at the University of Oregon and co-author of the study.
While the study provides useful information, it has some important limitations. It looked at each child only once, so it doesn’t show how individuals changed over time. Because families chose to participate, the group of children studied might not fully represent all children in the United States, especially those from underrepresented populations. The study did capture measures of social-emotional development like communication skills. However, it grouped speech and learning delays into this larger category rather than examining them individually, so we don’t know yet how that specific challenge has affected youth.
Regardless of how the study was conducted, as Squires noted, “It’s essential to recognize these trends so we can support children before delays become challenges.”
Sources
Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2). (2026). https://agesandstages.com/products-pricing/asqse-2/
Anunciação, L. Zoom Interview conducted by Sharika Dhar. July 15, 2025.
Anunciação, L., Squires, J., Clifford, J., & Murphy, K. (2025). Pandemic’s Long-Term Effects on Young Children’s Socioemotional Development. Am J Prev Med 69(4): 107981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2025.107981
Guardian News and Media. (2024, September 9). Impact of Covid lockdowns to disrupt England’s schools into the 2030s, report says. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/sep/09/impact-of-covid-lockdowns-to-disrupt-englands-schools-into-the-2030s-report-says
North, Anna. (2024) The scary truth about how far behind American kids have fallen. Center for Education Policy Research. Harvard University. https://cepr.harvard.edu/news/scary-truth-about-how-far-behind-american-kids-have-fallen#:~:text=Students%20of%20all%20ages%20still,they%20have%20since%20time%20immemorial
Oates, T. (2024) The COVID-19 pandemic may be a thing of the past— its impact in schools is not. Association of School and College Leaders (in the United Kingdom) www.ascl.org.uk/ASCL/media/ASCL/News/Press%20releases/The-COVID-19-pandemic-may-be-a-thing-of-the-past.pdf
Squires, J. Zoom Interview conducted by Sharika Dhar. July 18, 2025.
Editorial Team
- Chief Editors: Chloe Eng, Aanya Bulusu
- Associate Editor: Eric Yang
- Team Editor: Olivia Wood
- Graphic Designer: Audrey Hosmer
- Social Media Coordinators: Abigail Marquez, Andy Alvarado Rodriguez
- Web Manager: Ananya Datta
Mentor
- Lesley Earl, Ph.D., who until recently worked at the National Institutes of Health, is an experienced science and medical writer who specializes in using written and multimedia products to share basic and clinical research with scientists, clinicians, and the public.
Content Experts
Luis Anunciação is a Courtesy Associate Professor at the Center on Human Development at the University of Oregon and an Assistant Professor in Quantitative Methods, Psychometrics, and Data Analysis in Psychometrics in the Department of Psychology, at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). He conducts research on social and emotional learning and child development as part of a joint collaboration between Brazil and the United States.
Jane Squires, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor Emerita of Early Intervention/Special Education at the College of Education, University of Oregon. Throughout her 30-year career, she has developed and conducted research on assessments and intervention tools to assist in optimizing children’s developmental outcomes and well-being.
