COVID Disrupted Kids’ Executive Function Skills—And It's Messing With Middle School

Is your middle-schooler struggling to remember their homework, stay focused in class, or control their angsty outbursts? They're not alone. According to a Harvard University study, the pandemic disrupted the development of executive function skills in kids. The study followed a group of 3,100 children who were 3 in 2018 until 2023 and noted how COVID affected their learning.

"Prior to the pandemic, children in the sample overall were performing at or above average on direct assessments of executive function," say two of the study's authors, Stephanie M. Jones and Caitlin M. Dermody, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. "After the pandemic’s onset, the average rate at which executive function grew for children across the socioeconomic spectrum was lower than what is typical based on previous national norms and existing research,"

What are executive function skills?

According to the study, they are a "set of inter-related processes driven by the pre-frontal cortex. EF governs attention, control, and goal directed behavior." What does that mean? Essentially, these are the skills that help kids move through life smoothly.

Executive function helps with everything from remembering where you left your keys to stopping yourself from interrupting conversations. In kids, this looks like paying attention in class, keeping track of daily schedules and playing nicely.

Why did the pandemic affect executive function?

While the study authors can't make exact claims, other studies have shown the effects of the pandemic on families, namely "parental stress, economic instability, illness, social isolation, and other disruptions to education and care."

Jones and Dermody say that these stressful pandemic-related experiences may have disrupted the family support systems that can help kids build executive function skills.

How can parents help their kids develop executive function skills now?

Just do your best. Now that the pandemic has passed, hopefully your lives have returned to normal—or you're new normal (although we know that's not true for everyone). Jones and Dermody say, "Consistent, predictable, responsive, and warm environments and experiences are important for sustaining children through challenge and for fostering and supporting their executive function development."

But it's not all on you. They add that while parents can help their kids learn some of these skills at home, schools and other learning environments can help, too.

In other words, your kid is going to be okay. Their self‑regulation systems took a hit during an extraordinary few years, but through adult support and guidance, they'll catch up.