The Coronavirus Pandemic and Mental Health Presentations of Young Children

Children under the age of four are emotionally vulnerable to global disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic given the lack of socialization opportunities and coping mechanisms, and susceptibility to heightened caregiver stress. Currently, the extent to which the pandemic impacted the mental health of clinically referred young children is unknown. To evaluate how children’s mental health outcomes were impacted during the pandemic, interRAI Early Years assessments (N = 1343) were obtained from 11 agencies across the Province of Ontario, during pre-pandemic and pandemic timepoints. Findings demonstrated that the number of completed assessments declined during the pandemic. Further, children’s emotional concerns differed before and during the pandemic, whereby children exhibited greater emotional dysregulation during the pandemic. However, there were no significant differences when examining caregiver distress, parenting strengths, child distractibility/inattention or behavioural issues. Implications for young children and their families, clinicians, and policy makers are discussed.