COVID-19 Pandemic Exposure and Toddler Behavioral Health in the ECHO Program
Key Points Question Are toddlers who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic at increased risk for internalizing and externalizing problems? Findings This cohort study of 3438 toddlers across the United States and Puerto Rico found that those born before the pandemic but assessed during it as well as those born and assessed during the pandemic exhibited fewer parent-reported internalizing and externalizing problems compared with toddlers born and assessed before the pandemic. Meaning These findings suggest that pandemic exposure was not associated with increased behavioral difficulties in toddlers and underscore the need to identify protective factors.
Authors
- Michelle Bosquet Enlow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2598-3894)
- Daphne Koinis‐Mitchell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5009-1647)
- Marie L. Churchill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3657-8344)
- Julie A. Hofheimer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3233-1480)
- Thomas G. O’Connor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8590-5057)
- Viren A. D’Sa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3476-8419)
- Morgan R. Firestein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3814-8700)
- Lauren C. Shuffrey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3631-5971)
- Lauren Costello
- Akram N. Alshawabkeh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5243-4087)
- Monica McGrath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2271-0743)
- Sara S. Nozadi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9702-4452)
- Tracey J. Woodruff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3622-1297)
- Akhgar Ghassabian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9551-4706)
- Rosalind J. Wright (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4262-2807)
- Susan L. Schantz
- Rachel A. Morello-Frosch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1153-7287)
- Amy E. Margolis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3334-6783)
- Anne Lang Dunlop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5092-8136)
- Patricia A. Brennan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3742-2891)
- Anahid Akbaryan
- Amy J. Elliott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3592-5957)
- Julianna Collazo Vargas
- Santiago Morales
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- UNC Libraries
- Published
- 2025-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.17615/edkc-dg62
- Primary Topic
- Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00