COVID-19 Pandemic Exposure and Toddler Behavioral Health in the ECHO Program

Are toddlers who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic at increased risk for internalizing and externalizing problems?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.These findings suggest that pandemic exposure was not associated with increased behavioral difficulties in toddlers and underscore the need to identify protective factors.

Corresponding Author: Lauren C. Shuffrey, PhD, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, One Park Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016 (Lauren.Shuffrey@nyulangone.org).

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