COVID-19 school disruptions in early childhood education and children’s early elementary school outcomes: findings from the smart beginnings randomized clinical trial

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted families with young children (age 0-5). Using a subset of data from the randomized clinical trial of an integrated, preventive parenting model, Smart Beginnings (SB), this study examined associations between COVID-19-related school disruptions in early childhood education (ECE) and children's early elementary school outcomes. A secondary, exploratory aim sought to determine whether SB attenuated these relations. Path analyses demonstrated that school disruptions in ECE were associated with lower literacy skills at age 6 in letter-word identification (β = −.32, p < .01) and phonemic decoding (β = −.26, p < .05), but not for math or oral language skills. School disruptions in ECE were also related to increased internalizing behaviour in children (β = .34, p < .01), with a trend for increased externalizing behaviour (β = .22, p < .10). There was no significant moderation by SB intervention group. Implications for future school disruptions and acute stressors more broadly, as well as the role of preventive interventions, are discussed.