COVID-19 pandemic and the mental health of kindergarten children: A pre-post pan-Canadian analysis using the Early Development Instrument

Early childhood, when the brain develops in the context of nurturing and learning environments, is a crucial period in a child's life. These early environments have significant influence over children's development, health, and well-being. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, marked by deferred healthcare visits, discontinuation of childcare and early education programs effectively disrupted these traditional supports and thus likely had an impact on early child development and mental health. Understanding of this impact specifically on young children remains limited. As such, the objectives of this research are twofold: 1) to establish levels of mental health (symptoms of anxiety, inattentiveness/ hyperactivity, and aggression) in a 2017 birth cohort attending kindergarten in Canada during the 2022-2023 academic year in comparison to pre-pandemic data; and 2) to examine the mental health symptoms of kindergarteners in 2023 across Canadian provinces in the context of the neighborhood socioeconomic status. The Canadian Neighborhoods Early Child Development Pan-Canadian database will be used in this study, and the Emotional Maturity domain of the Early Development Instrument will be employed to measure children's mental health. The association between mental health outcomes and developmental health will be modeled through multilevel logistic and linear regressions. Understanding the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and the mental health of young children is critical, as early development profoundly shapes subsequent health and educational outcomes. Given the active involvement of provincial governments collecting these data and their interest in the findings, it is anticipated that this research may have a high and direct impact on children's mental health.