Study: pandemic babies struggled to recognize emotions, affecting social development

Babies and toddlers who grew up during the COVID-19 pandemic were unable to distinguish between happy and frightened faces, a new study from Utrecht University has revealed. The study, titled The Effects of COVID-19-Related Policies on Neurocognitive Face Processing in the First Four Years of Life, was led by researcher Carlijn van den Boomen.

The research focused on the impact of the pandemic on young children's ability to interpret facial expressions, a crucial skill in social and emotional development. "At this age, babies learn a lot by observing faces. They learn to distinguish and interpret emotions," Van den Boomen explained in a press release.

The research involved nearly 1,000 children, split into two groups. Before the pandemic, 462 children participated in a long-term study on child development. During the pandemic, 473 children were studied to assess how reduced social exposure influenced their emotional recognition skills. The findings were published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

The results showed that babies and toddlers who grew up during the pandemic struggled to differentiate between happy and frightened faces. This was particularly evident in their responses to happy faces. The children showed a marked difficulty in processing happy facial expressions, which the researchers believe was due to the limited variety of face-to-face interactions during the pandemic.

"The brains of children during the pandemic reacted differently to happy faces," Van den Boomen noted. "It seemed like they were less familiar with happy faces."

The study also measured the brain activity of the children as they viewed facial expressions. Children who were exposed to the pandemic's social restrictions were unable to make the distinction between the two emotions, a finding that was not present in the pre-pandemic group.

The researchers suggest that the reduced exposure to various people and faces, particularly the prevalence of mask-wearing, played a role in the children's inability to recognize emotional cues. "It’s important for babies to see many different people and faces in different contexts to learn how to interpret emotions," said Van den Boomen.

The study is significant not only for parents but also for policymakers, as it demonstrates the broader societal impacts of pandemic-era policies. "There are so many children involved in this, and both parents and policymakers need to understand the consequences of these measures," Van den Boomen emphasized.

While the researchers did not investigate whether the children regained their ability to distinguish between emotions after the pandemic, there is hope that they will catch up in the future. "Earlier research showed that babies who experienced developmental delays during the pandemic caught up over time. We hope the same will happen with emotional processing," Van den Boomen added.

"Recognizing emotions is essential for a child’s social development and learning. It’s possible that their development in other areas may have been affected during the pandemic as well," Van den Boomen warned.

“Even if children regain some of their emotional processing abilities, other lasting effects might still emerge,” Van den Boomen concluded. "We need to continue paying attention to the long-term impact of the pandemic on young children’s development."