Post-COVID Delays in Executive Functioning Growth

What is it about?

We examined repeated tests of children’s executive functioning, or the cognitive skills that support self-regulation, before and after COVID-induced school closures, to test whether kids’ growth in these skills was affected by the pandemic. Our sample was a diverse, low-income cohort of students in Tulsa, Oklahoma who were in 1st grade when the pandemic hit. We found that children’s executive functioning growth stagnated during the pandemic, with an estimated 11-12 months of growth lost during school closures. In the two years after school re-opened, students continued to grow at a much slower rate than we would expect based on their ages and pre-COVID growth rates.

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Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash

Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our findings suggest that the pandemic may have had lasting impacts on children’s ability to regulate their attention and behavior. Targeted classroom supports may be needed to help students regain momentum in their growth of these skills.