The Impact of the Pandemic on Development: Parents' Perceptions on Language and Literacy

This exploratory research examined how Canadian parents perceived the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on several aspects of their children's development, and whether these perceptions differed between parents of children with and without developmental difficulties. Pandemic -related restrictions limited social interactions, likely leading parents to have concerns about the impact of the pandemic on children's development of social skills. However, it was not clear if parents were concerned about the potential impact of the pandemic on other areas of child development, such as language and early literacy. To examine parents' perceptions of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child development, we conducted an online survey with 253 parents of preschool -aged children. Survey items covered two domains: possible impacts of pandemic -related measures and concerns about specific developmental skills. Parents reported that the most negative impact on their children's development during the pandemic was limitations on playing with other children. They were particularly concerned about the impact on social skills, more so than on language and early literacy skills. The results also showed that parents who suspected that their children had a developmental difficulty were more concerned about the pandemic's impact on their children's development than parents of children with a diagnosis or no difficulties. We discuss the implications of these findings considering current research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's language, early literacy, and social skill development.