Recent preprint work suggests that children born during the Covid-19 pandemic have lower IQs. According to the researchers, this is explained by the lack of stimulation on the part of the parents. It must be said that the latter were obliged to take care of their children in addition to their work.
A recent American study explained that pregnant women who were diagnosed with Covid-19 during their pregnancy had a higher risk of premature and very premature delivery. What if children born during the pandemic also had lower IQs ? In any case, this is the conclusion of another study that was pre-published on the medRxiv platform on August 11, 2021.
Researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University (United States) are categorical:children born during the Covid-19 pandemic have verbal, motor and especially severely reduced cognitive abilities compared to those of newborns born before the crisis.
The study reminds us that the first years of babies' lives play a crucial role in their cognitive development. Nevertheless, the closure of structures such as schools , crèches and other playgrounds would have impacted the lives of young children. The situation in question meant that parents having to reconcile children and work experienced a certain level of stress. Thus, these same children experienced a significant drop in their interactions with the outside and stimulations at home .
The researchers report that the 672 children who participated in the study obtained particularly low scores during tests aimed at assessing their cognitive development. Over the past decade, the average IQ of toddlers was around 100 on average, compared to 78 in the case of children born during the crisis. Obviously, the study is to be taken with tweezers, because it is for the moment a simple prepublication. Indeed, this work must be validated by peers before being taken as a reference.
Nevertheless, the study's lead author Sean Deoni explains that this drop is not subtle . According to him, this kind of fall does not exist outside of significant, even major cognitive problems. However, the children who participated in the study did not present any disorder development.
Lack of stimulation would appear to be the main reason for this decline of IQ. It seems logical that parents under stress and fatigue would have fewer interactions with their children and this would have had an impact on their development. However, even if the results are validated, it will be very difficult to predict immediately if they will have an impact in the long term.
