Changes in social behavioral developmental risks in preschool children after the first COVID-19 wave – results from a prospective cohort study

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in many countries preschool and school closures were common, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. The impact of the pandemic on developmental risks in the social-emotional domain of preschool children is largely unknown. In this prospective dynamic cohort study social behavioral developmental risks were longitudinally assessed with the “Dortmund Developmental Screening for Preschools (DESK 3-6 R)”. Therefore, DESK 3-6-R data from 3-year-olds at survey wave 3 (DESK-R-SW3, 2019) and 4-year-olds at survey wave 4 (DESK-R-SW4, 2020) were used. In addition, data assessed in previous survey waves were analyzed to contextualize the observed changes. A total of N =786 children were included in the analysis. In DESK-R-SW3 the proportion of children with social behavioral developmental risks/inconclusive findings was 18.2%, whereas in DESK-R-SW4 the proportion decreased to 12.4%. The prevalence rate ratio (PRR) was therefore 0.68 ( p =0.001). Compared to data from the previous survey waves (PRR=0.82; PRR=0.88), this result represents a notable improvement. No deteriorations in the prevalence of preschoolers’ social behavioral development risks after the first COVID-19 wave could be observed. The results are discussed in the framework of the pandemic situation in the study region and the current literature.