The effects of social distancing policies on children's language development, sleep and executive functions.
Lead Research Organisation:
Oxford Brookes University
Department Name: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Abstract
On 20th March 2020, the UK Government instigated a nationwide nursery and school closure in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, followed by instructions for people to stay at home. For millions of children, this brought stark changes to their routines, with a decrease in outdoor activities and interactions with others.
The environments children grow up in heavily influence key elements of cognitive development such as language and executive functions, which in turn associate with later educational and occupational attainment as well as health and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime situation that has dramatically changed the daily lives of millions of families. Several environmental factors likely to be affected by quarantine measures (such as sleep, parenting style and social interactions, screen use, and outdoor activities/exercise) are known predictors of language and executive function development.
The proposed study will follow up a UK-wide cohort of 600 children aged 8 to 36 months of age, enrolled in an online study at the onset of social distancing measures, to capture changes in key environmental variables and measure their impact on children's vocabulary size and executive function. Using sophisticated analyses on a large and diverse sample, we will examine the role of each factor on children's cognitive abilities. At this time of unforeseen and ongoing change, it is imperative to understand the impacts of the lockdown on cognition during a critical period for development (0 to 3 years of age), and then find strategies to minimise disruption to this cohort. Our findings will identify approaches that mitigate the temporary loss of formal early years' education, identify those groups most at risk of adverse consequences, and inform policy on how to remediate the negative impacts of lockdown post-COVID-19.
The environments children grow up in heavily influence key elements of cognitive development such as language and executive functions, which in turn associate with later educational and occupational attainment as well as health and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime situation that has dramatically changed the daily lives of millions of families. Several environmental factors likely to be affected by quarantine measures (such as sleep, parenting style and social interactions, screen use, and outdoor activities/exercise) are known predictors of language and executive function development.
The proposed study will follow up a UK-wide cohort of 600 children aged 8 to 36 months of age, enrolled in an online study at the onset of social distancing measures, to capture changes in key environmental variables and measure their impact on children's vocabulary size and executive function. Using sophisticated analyses on a large and diverse sample, we will examine the role of each factor on children's cognitive abilities. At this time of unforeseen and ongoing change, it is imperative to understand the impacts of the lockdown on cognition during a critical period for development (0 to 3 years of age), and then find strategies to minimise disruption to this cohort. Our findings will identify approaches that mitigate the temporary loss of formal early years' education, identify those groups most at risk of adverse consequences, and inform policy on how to remediate the negative impacts of lockdown post-COVID-19.
Publications
Bazelmans T
(2024)
Rates of family history of autism and ADHD varies with recruitment approach and socio-economic status.
in The British journal of developmental psychology
Bergmann C
(2022)
Young children's screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries.
in Scientific reports
Davies C
(2021)
Early Education and Care During Covid-19 Boosts Language and Executive Function
in Children and Young People Now
Davies C
(2024)
Attending early education during the pandemic provided sustained benefits for toddlers' development
in Early Years Educator
Davies C
(2021)
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) during COVID-19 boosts growth in language and executive function.
in Infant and child development
Davies C
(2023)
Sustained benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) for young children's development during COVID-19
in Journal of Early Childhood Research
| Title | Resource packs for families |
| Description | Developed and distributed 100 resource packs to support vulnerable families in Argentina to engage in a range of enriching activities with their toddlers, also created downloadable digital versions. This will be part of a project done in collaboration with the Inter American Development Bank and the Hospital Aleman in Buenos Aires. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | Families report being enthused and supported to engage in more activities with their children |
| URL | https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development/activity-cards |
| Title | Resource packs for families |
| Description | Developed and distributed 500 resource packs to support parents in Oxfordshire to engage in a range of enriching activities with their toddlers, also created downloadable digital version and audio versions in 6 languages |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Families report being enthused and supported to engage in more activities with their children. The publishing partner (Faber) are keen to support future phases of the project. |
| URL | https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development/activity-cards |
| Description | Language In our analyses of UK families to date, we have found that greater access to early childhood education and care (i.e., nurseries and childminders) between Spring and Winter 2020 was linked to increased growth in receptive vocabulary (number of different words understood) during that period in children under 3 years of age. This was true of all children attending ECEC but was more pronounced in children from lower socioeconomic status (SES; parental education, occupation, income and locality). There was also a similar trend for expressive vocabulary (number of different words spoken), though this was not significant. Executive Functions In Winter 2020, children aged 3 years or under were found to have higher Cognitive Executive Functions (thinking skills such as inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility) and Regulation skills if they had parents with higher-SES. These associations can be partly explained by screen use: children from lower-SES backgrounds were more likely to spend a lot of time using touchscreens and watching television, which in turn is associated with lower Cognitive Executive Functions and Regulation scores. The amount of time that parents engaged in enriching activities with their child (e.g., talking one-to-one, playing games, baking, doing arts and crafts etc) was also associated with children's Cognitive Executive Function scores. Lower-SES was associated with lower engagement in enriching activities (mostly relating to activities involving outdoor space, and access to books) during the Spring 2020 Lockdown, but not the Winter 2020 Lockdown. In addition, we found that greater access to early childhood education and care during the 2020 pandemic, was linked to higher cognitive executive functions, across all socioeconomic levels. Sleep Parents of over 2s were more likely to report worse sleep (shorter naps) due to the pandemic. Although children from lower-SES backgrounds tended to be more affected, these effects were seen across the socioeconomic spectrum. Because of the blue light emitted, screens have been associated with poor sleep. However, in our sample, screen use before bed did not predict time to fall asleep or time spent asleep at night. However, the time children spent using screens during the day reduced nap duration. |
| Exploitation Route | By engaging with civil servants and other government officials, we will continue to offer expert and evidence-based advice to shape national policy, informed by our UK-wide sample. For example, guidelines and policies could put measures in place to promote outdoor activities, rich interaction, or sleep, while complying with social distancing measures. In addition, our findings will prepare educational professionals for the return to formal education by highlighting the areas of development most affected during this period. The results will continue to be shared with a range of stakeholders, e.g., local authority and government departments, policymakers, education professionals, and other researchers. This will continue to be done via evidence syntheses, policy briefings, academic and practitioner publications, and public engagement events. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Education Other |
| URL | https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development/findings |
| Description | Our findings are beginning to impact beyond academia in the public and third/voluntary sectors. Our preliminary findings have been presented to policymakers from the Department for Education and to policymakers from the Welsh Government as well. A briefing document was also sent to ministers and civil servants. Catherine Pape, National Speech, Language and Communication Co-ordinator said: "Welsh Government's Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) strategy is outlined in the 'Talk with Me' delivery plan. The plan was published in November 2020, and as we work on the objectives within the plan, we are also striving to respond to the pandemic in the most effective way for children across Wales. The work of Dr. Gonzalez-Gomez and her team has been extremely valuable in helping us to respond according to evidence. We have been able to use the results of the research to show how lockdown has contributed to a widening of the gap between richer and poorer families, and to direct recovery funds accordingly. The research has helped to show the critical role of childcare as a protective factor, and this adds to the argument in support of keeping childcare open, particularly for the most vulnerable. Dr Gonzalez-Gomez spoke at a webinar in the Autumn which was attended by 240 practitioners from across the SLC workforce in Wales, as well as at the Clinical Excellence Network for Speech and Language Therapists working in Early Years Public Health. This has enabled practitioners to hear directly about the research when the results were hot off the press, and as such the results have been used to inform practice. One example is a plan to work with colleagues from Occupational and Physio therapy teams, to consider how we might incorporate indoor exercise into early SLC interventions, due to indoor exercise being found to be associated with good SLC skills in the study. We look forward to continuing to work with Dr Gonzalez-Gomez and her team as more results are analysed, and will be using these results as we consider the actions within 'Talk with Me' as well as the recovery from the pandemic." Furthermore, we have shared our preliminary findings with members of the third/voluntary sectors. For example, we have been in contact with National Literacy Trust and our preliminary findings have been very well received: Kirsty Cunnington, Programme Manager, Early Years at National Literacy Trust said: "These infographics will be of great use, I will definitely share with colleagues. They are brilliant for us to be able to use to underpin our current programmatic offer of Early Words Together Outdoors with book gifting, which we're managing to run in a few children's centres in targeted areas with parents and children coming together in the outside space..." Based, on our preliminary findings showing that babies and toddlers from disadvantaged backgrounds missed out on outside play during the Spring 2020 lockdown, our team decided to raise money to provide outdoor weather gear for babies and toddlers. Our research team raised £1,335, this helped 119 toddlers to enjoy the outdoors whatever the weather. The rain-sets, provided at discount by Wet Wednesdays, have been distributed by volunteers from Home-Start Oxford to families struggling this winter. Katharine Barber, CEO of Home-Start Oxford said: "We are thrilled by the generosity of Alex, the research team and friends, who were determined to make sure their findings led to real change for local families. Many of the parents we support were already struggling with isolation and loneliness before the pandemic, and we have seen this hugely increase. The wet weather suits will enable parents to get out with their young children and meet people in a socially-distanced way, whatever the weather, as well as helping ensure that their young children have the play opportunities that are so vital to their development." Jonathon Blackburn, from the DfE said: 'The Department for Education (DfE) is closely assessing how the pandemic has impacted on families and children and the implications for Government policy during and after the pandemic. The Social Distancing and Development Study has been an important source of evidence on how social distancing has interacted with known risk and protective factors for early years child development. Tracking a cohort of families during the pandemic is yielding crucial evidence on the extent of any developmental losses and risks to widening of the early years disadvantage gap. Alongside other studies and evidence, the findings are and will aid the Government to develop policies and programmes in response' o Building on the results of this project, we won two ESRC Impact Acceleration Kick-Starting Impact Awards. As part of these awards, we shared the results of our research with parents in three workshops (N=118). As a result of this workshop, 71% of parents reported an increase in confidence to support their child's development and 80% of parents said that they plan to change some of the things that they do with their child. o The results were also shared with practitioners in two workshops (N=127). As a result of these workshops, 64% of practitioners reported an increase in their confidence to help parents support their child's development and 87% of practitioners mentioned that they plan to change things that they do or talk about with parents. o In co-creation with parents and practitioners, we developed three activity packs (1100 packs in total) which are being distributed to families by charity partners and local nurseries. Each pack includes tangible resources and ten different activity ideas to use these resources with an emphasis on simple, fun, play-focused ways for parents to engage with their toddlers. Here is some of the feedback that we have gotten from parents: "We had lots of fun pulling the tape off the table. My son kept saying again and more. I got to spend some more quality time with my son." "It was nice to have ready-made activities to do together. It was helpful that it made me focus on this child specifically, and I put time aside to do this with her when there were no other children or distractions around so that we had each other's full attention. I enjoyed that a lot, and think I will try and make sure that happens more often." "Fantastic! Simple and easy yet imaginative. Loved playing and feeling it was supporting his learning, thank you!" "I found the explanations of why an activity was good for development (e.g. animal sounds good for language development, concentrating on an activity good for focusing) helpful than factuality about other activities we could do." Now our activity packs will be used by vulnerable families in Argentina who have children at risk of developmental delay as part of an intervention. This work is being done in collaboration with the Inter-American bank for Development and the Hospital Aleman in Buenos Aires. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Delphi study: impacts of COVID-19 on children under 5 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Research cited in POST briefing |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Description | Research cited in a report published by the European Commission |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c14645b2-24f8-11ec-bd8e-01aa75ed71a1/langua... |
| Description | Research cited in a report published by the Parent Infant Foundation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://parentinfantfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/F1001D-Casting-Long-Shadows-FINAL-N... |
| Description | University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes babylabs community partnerships |
| Amount | £10,880 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 2105-KICK-673 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2021 |
| End | 02/2022 |
| Description | University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes babylabs community partnerships programme phase 2 (ESRC IAA Stage 3) |
| Amount | £25,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 2205-KEA-803 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Title | The Social Distancing and Development Study. [Data Collection] |
| Description | On 20th March 2020, the UK Government instigated a nationwide nursery and school closure in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, followed by instructions for people to stay at home. For millions of children, this brought stark changes to their routines, with a decrease in outdoor activities and interactions with others. The environments children grow up in heavily influence key elements of cognitive development such as language and executive functions, which in turn associate with later educational and occupational attainment as well as health and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime situation that has dramatically changed the daily lives of millions of families. Several environmental factors likely to be affected by quarantine measures (such as sleep, parenting style and social interactions, screen use, and outdoor activities/exercise) are known predictors of language and executive function development. The proposed study will follow up a UK-wide cohort of 600 children aged 8 to 36 months of age, enrolled in an online study at the onset of social distancing measures, to capture changes in key environmental variables and measure their impact on children's vocabulary size and executive function. Using sophisticated analyses on a large and diverse sample, we will examine the role of each factor on children's cognitive abilities. At this time of unforeseen and ongoing change, it is imperative to understand the impacts of the lockdown on cognition during a critical period for development (0 to 3 years of age), and then find strategies to minimise disruption to this cohort. Our findings will identify approaches that mitigate the temporary loss of formal early years' education, identify those groups most at risk of adverse consequences, and inform policy on how to remediate the negative impacts of lockdown post-COVID-19. DATA DESCRIPTION (ABSTRACT) The Social Distancing and Development Study (SDDS) aimed to examine how changes in sleep, parenting style, social interactions, screen use and activities affect young children's language and cognitive development since the Spring 2020 UK lockdown. This longitudinal study followed a cohort of nearly 900 children aged 8 to 36 months of age, enrolled in an online study at the onset or during the Spring 2020 UK lockdown, to capture changes in their environment and measure their impact on children's vocabulary size and executive function. Since Spring 2020, we have collected data at three additional time points: T2 - End of the Spring 2020 lockdown, T3 - November 2020 lockdown, and T4 - One-year follow-up. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This dataset makes the data collected from the SDDS project publicly available for further analysis and follow-up. |
| URL | https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint::View&eprintid=855473 |
| Description | Social Distancing and Development Study |
| Organisation | Oxford Brookes University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to executive function measures), data pre-processing and analysis. I have led on the the writing of 3 manuscripts and have taken an active role in their dissemination, via press releases and social media coverage. I am also a co-author (contributing to the conceptualisation and writing of the study) for 3 further manuscripts. I also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public, particularly relating to my specialist area of executive functions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to language development), data collection and analysis. They also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public. |
| Impact | Funding application: The effects of social distancing policies on children's language development, sleep and executive functions Publications: - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2023). Toward a dimensional model of risk and protective factors influencing children's early cognitive, social, and emotional development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infancy. - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2022). Not all babies are in the same boat: Exploring the effects of socioeconomic status, parental attitudes, and activities during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on early Executive Functions. Infancy. - Davies, C., Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2021). Early childhood education and care (ECEC) during COVID-19 boosts growth in language and executive function. Infant and child development, 30(4), e2241. Policy briefings: - Research from the Social Distancing and Development Study used by Welsh government to inform their understanding of the impact of the pandemic on child development and to plan their priorities for intervention - Research on the impacts of nursery closures during the pandemic on language and executive function development included in a UK Parliament rapid response briefing (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; POST: Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education & Care https://post.parliament.uk/impact-of-covid-19-on-early-childhood-education-care/ (Oct 2021) - Briefings to Department for Education (Dec 2020), Local Government Association (March 2021), Cabinet Office (April 2021) and Oxfordshire County Council (February 2022) Public engagement - Research featured in Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/29/my-son-cowers-when-a-shopkeeper-says-hello-are-the-toddlers-of-covid-all-right? (Jan 2022), Daily Mail (Feb 2022) dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10483641/Using-digital-devices-soothe-young-children-mean-miss-learning-calm-themselves.html , BBC News: Have lockdowns affected my child's physical and mental health? (Feb 2021) - Co-authored a research explainer on the impacts of access to Early Childhood Education and Care during the pandemic in the Conversation (Jul 2021) |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Social Distancing and Development Study |
| Organisation | University of East Anglia |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to executive function measures), data pre-processing and analysis. I have led on the the writing of 3 manuscripts and have taken an active role in their dissemination, via press releases and social media coverage. I am also a co-author (contributing to the conceptualisation and writing of the study) for 3 further manuscripts. I also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public, particularly relating to my specialist area of executive functions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to language development), data collection and analysis. They also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public. |
| Impact | Funding application: The effects of social distancing policies on children's language development, sleep and executive functions Publications: - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2023). Toward a dimensional model of risk and protective factors influencing children's early cognitive, social, and emotional development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infancy. - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2022). Not all babies are in the same boat: Exploring the effects of socioeconomic status, parental attitudes, and activities during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on early Executive Functions. Infancy. - Davies, C., Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2021). Early childhood education and care (ECEC) during COVID-19 boosts growth in language and executive function. Infant and child development, 30(4), e2241. Policy briefings: - Research from the Social Distancing and Development Study used by Welsh government to inform their understanding of the impact of the pandemic on child development and to plan their priorities for intervention - Research on the impacts of nursery closures during the pandemic on language and executive function development included in a UK Parliament rapid response briefing (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; POST: Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education & Care https://post.parliament.uk/impact-of-covid-19-on-early-childhood-education-care/ (Oct 2021) - Briefings to Department for Education (Dec 2020), Local Government Association (March 2021), Cabinet Office (April 2021) and Oxfordshire County Council (February 2022) Public engagement - Research featured in Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/29/my-son-cowers-when-a-shopkeeper-says-hello-are-the-toddlers-of-covid-all-right? (Jan 2022), Daily Mail (Feb 2022) dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10483641/Using-digital-devices-soothe-young-children-mean-miss-learning-calm-themselves.html , BBC News: Have lockdowns affected my child's physical and mental health? (Feb 2021) - Co-authored a research explainer on the impacts of access to Early Childhood Education and Care during the pandemic in the Conversation (Jul 2021) |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Social Distancing and Development Study |
| Organisation | University of Leeds |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to executive function measures), data pre-processing and analysis. I have led on the the writing of 3 manuscripts and have taken an active role in their dissemination, via press releases and social media coverage. I am also a co-author (contributing to the conceptualisation and writing of the study) for 3 further manuscripts. I also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public, particularly relating to my specialist area of executive functions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to language development), data collection and analysis. They also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public. |
| Impact | Funding application: The effects of social distancing policies on children's language development, sleep and executive functions Publications: - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2023). Toward a dimensional model of risk and protective factors influencing children's early cognitive, social, and emotional development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infancy. - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2022). Not all babies are in the same boat: Exploring the effects of socioeconomic status, parental attitudes, and activities during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on early Executive Functions. Infancy. - Davies, C., Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2021). Early childhood education and care (ECEC) during COVID-19 boosts growth in language and executive function. Infant and child development, 30(4), e2241. Policy briefings: - Research from the Social Distancing and Development Study used by Welsh government to inform their understanding of the impact of the pandemic on child development and to plan their priorities for intervention - Research on the impacts of nursery closures during the pandemic on language and executive function development included in a UK Parliament rapid response briefing (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; POST: Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education & Care https://post.parliament.uk/impact-of-covid-19-on-early-childhood-education-care/ (Oct 2021) - Briefings to Department for Education (Dec 2020), Local Government Association (March 2021), Cabinet Office (April 2021) and Oxfordshire County Council (February 2022) Public engagement - Research featured in Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/29/my-son-cowers-when-a-shopkeeper-says-hello-are-the-toddlers-of-covid-all-right? (Jan 2022), Daily Mail (Feb 2022) dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10483641/Using-digital-devices-soothe-young-children-mean-miss-learning-calm-themselves.html , BBC News: Have lockdowns affected my child's physical and mental health? (Feb 2021) - Co-authored a research explainer on the impacts of access to Early Childhood Education and Care during the pandemic in the Conversation (Jul 2021) |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Social Distancing and Development Study |
| Organisation | University of Warwick |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to executive function measures), data pre-processing and analysis. I have led on the the writing of 3 manuscripts and have taken an active role in their dissemination, via press releases and social media coverage. I am also a co-author (contributing to the conceptualisation and writing of the study) for 3 further manuscripts. I also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public, particularly relating to my specialist area of executive functions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project partners contribute to the study design (specifically with regards to language development), data collection and analysis. They also contribute to briefings to policy makers and the general public. |
| Impact | Funding application: The effects of social distancing policies on children's language development, sleep and executive functions Publications: - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2023). Toward a dimensional model of risk and protective factors influencing children's early cognitive, social, and emotional development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infancy. - Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Davies, C., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2022). Not all babies are in the same boat: Exploring the effects of socioeconomic status, parental attitudes, and activities during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic on early Executive Functions. Infancy. - Davies, C., Hendry, A., Gibson, S. P., Gliga, T., McGillion, M., & Gonzalez-Gomez, N. (2021). Early childhood education and care (ECEC) during COVID-19 boosts growth in language and executive function. Infant and child development, 30(4), e2241. Policy briefings: - Research from the Social Distancing and Development Study used by Welsh government to inform their understanding of the impact of the pandemic on child development and to plan their priorities for intervention - Research on the impacts of nursery closures during the pandemic on language and executive function development included in a UK Parliament rapid response briefing (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; POST: Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education & Care https://post.parliament.uk/impact-of-covid-19-on-early-childhood-education-care/ (Oct 2021) - Briefings to Department for Education (Dec 2020), Local Government Association (March 2021), Cabinet Office (April 2021) and Oxfordshire County Council (February 2022) Public engagement - Research featured in Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/29/my-son-cowers-when-a-shopkeeper-says-hello-are-the-toddlers-of-covid-all-right? (Jan 2022), Daily Mail (Feb 2022) dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10483641/Using-digital-devices-soothe-young-children-mean-miss-learning-calm-themselves.html , BBC News: Have lockdowns affected my child's physical and mental health? (Feb 2021) - Co-authored a research explainer on the impacts of access to Early Childhood Education and Care during the pandemic in the Conversation (Jul 2021) |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | A talk or presentation - Policy Makers Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of preliminary results to Children and Families Division policy officials and analysts from the Welsh Government, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Babies and toddlers in lockdown and beyond interactive online workshop series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Led the Babies and toddlers in lockdown and beyond interactive online workshop series for early years practitioners and parents of children under 3 years |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development/workshop-recording |
| Description | Conference Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The results of the SDDS project were presented to practitioners and policymakers at the "Virtual Families First/Flying Start Conference" which was attended by Julie Morgan, Deputy Minister for Social Services. The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Debate for national news: Sky news |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PI took part in a debate about the importance of nurseries during lockdown. The Sky News with Sarah Hewson episode was aired on the 14th January 2021. As a result of this, the team has been contacted by members of the public and other media organisations to request further information about the study. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Development and distribution of resource packs for families |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Developed and distributed 500 resource packs (2022) and a further 600 packs (2022-23) to support parents in Oxfordshire to engage in a range of enriching activities with their toddlers, and also created downloadable digital version and audio versions in 6 languages. Parents and early years practitioners reported that these resources have led to meaningful changes in parent-child interactions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| URL | https://playfulpacks.uk/ |
| Description | Interview for National News |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PI spoke to The Guardian about how inequality in the life chances of children is being widened during the pandemic. The article also references our research into the effect that lockdowns and social-distancing have on the development of children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/18/fewer-uk-children-school-ready-after-covid-nursery... |
| Description | Media Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An article was published in "The Conversation" to disseminate the results of the SDDS project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/profiles/catherine-davies-1244248/dashboard |
| Description | Media Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Nature published an article that mentions the results of the SDDS project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00027-4 |
| Description | Media Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Guardian published an article that mentions the results of the SDDS project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/29/my-son-cowers-when-a-shopkeeper-says-hello-are-the-tod... |
| Description | National Media Coverage |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Research featured in Guardian article https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/29/my-son-cowers-when-a-shopkeeper-says-hello-are-the-toddlers-of-covid-all-right? (Jan 2022), Daily Mail article (Feb 2022), BBC News website: Have lockdowns affected my child's physical and mental health? (Feb 2021), BBC London News: Interviewed about impacts of UK lockdown on infants and toddlers (Dec 2020). Coverage in national and local press (total of 218 articles) of research relating to social inequalities of babies and toddlers' experiences during UK lockdown (Nov 2020) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Parlamentary postnote |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Davies submitted evidence based on the SDDS project as part of a parlamentary postnote. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0649/ |
| Description | Policy Makers Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of preliminary results to early years policy officials and analysts at the Department for Education, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Policy briefings on impacts of the pandemic on infants and toddlers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Research from the Social Distancing and Development Study used by Welsh government to inform their understanding of the impact of the pandemic on child development and to plan their priorities for intervention. Research on the impacts of nursery closures during the pandemic on language and executive function development included in a UK Parliament rapid response briefing (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; POST: Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education & Care https://post.parliament.uk/impact-of-covid-19-on-early-childhood-education-care/ (Oct 2021) Briefings to Dept for Education (Dec 2020), Local Government Association (Mar 2021), Cabinet Office (Apr 2021) on impacts of lockdown on infant development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development/findings |
| Description | Presentation (Mudiad Meithrin) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | 50 members of the Mudiad Meithrin charity and some people from the Welsh government attended this talk where Dr Gonzalez- Gomez presented the most recent findings of the SDDS project. The talk sparked numerous questions and discussions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation for professional practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The results of the SDDS project were shared with speech therapists by Dr Gonzalez-Gomez during the "Early years public health CEN". The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation to Policymakers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The results of the SDDS project were presented to policymakers at the "Technical Advisory Cell meeting (Welsh government equivalent of SAGE)". The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation to charity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The results of the SDDS project were presented to practitioners and the general public at a webinar organised by the Oxfordshire Community Foundation. The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation to policy makers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The results of the SDDS project were presented to policymakers at the "Renew & Reform: Early Years Project Board meeting". The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation to policymakers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The PI spoke at a unit level away day for the Early Years, Childcare, Families and Analysis (EYCFA) team from the Department for Education , which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation to policymakers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Prof Davies presented the results of the latest paper to officials from the Department for Education. There were representatives from the Early Years Entitlements and Sufficiency, Early Years Quality and Outcomes, Childminder Unit, Early Years Qualifications Unit, Early Years Policy Team, Policy Unit and the Early Years Entitlements Policy and Legislation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation to policymakers and practicioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The PI spoke at a webinar for Welsh Speech, Language and Communication workforce, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Press release |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | An article about the preliminary results of the study was published on the Daily Mail. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8883981/COVID-19-lockdowns-widen-disadvantage-gap-ri... |
| Description | Press release |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | A press release was issued with the preliminary findings of the study. The Guardian wrote a piece about it and there was also an article on their Conoavirus daily update. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/27/covid-toddlers-from-uks-poorest-families-hit-hardest... |
| Description | Press release of findings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release of the SDDS findings was issued which lead to the publication of an article in the Daily Mail and an interview of Dr Hendry on Jack.fm |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10483641/Using-digital-devices-soothe-young-children-mean-m... |
| Description | Press release of preliminary findings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release about some preliminary findings of the study was issued. A total of 218 articles reported on our preliminary findings which had a global reach of 1,469,853,500. Articles were published in 8 different countries across 4 continents. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Voluntary sector briefings on impact of the pandemic on infant and toddler development |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to Oxfordshire Community Foundation: Growing the youngest minds in a pandemic (Jun 2021) Invited talk to Oxfordshire Early Years Network (Mar 2021) and Oxfordshire Community Foundation (Jun 2021): Impacts of variation in the home environment and access to Early Childhood Education and Care on early thinking, regulation and language skills Babies and toddlers in lockdown and beyond interactive online workshop series for early years practitioners (Sep 2021) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dr Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez was invited to present the preliminary results of this project in "The Early language webinar" organised by Catherine Pape, the National Speech, Language and Communication Co-ordinator of Wales. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.exchangewales.org/talk-with-me-speech-language-and-communication-slc/ |
| Description | Webinar for professional practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The PI spoke at a webinar for Welsh Speech, Language and Communication workforce, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. As a result of the presentation, language practitioners are now using our results to inform their practice. Furthermore, we have been asked to be involved in their current campaign to promote language development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Webinar for professional practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The PI presented the results of the SDDS project at the "Talk to your baby conference", which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Webinar for professional practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The results of the SDDS project were presented to practitioners and policymakers at the "Home Learning Environment webinar" which was organised by the Literacy Trust. The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Webinar for professional practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Over 250 participants took part in the "Talk with Me Webinar" organised by the Welsh National Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) Co-ordinator. As part of this event, Dr Gonzalez-Gomez was invited to present the latest results of the SDDS project and to do a workshop with the audience. The session sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |