Blaming your kid's attention span on Covid?
In this episode, Dr. Aliza Pressman sits down with Georgetown Professor and developmental psychologist, Dr. Anna Johnson, to unpack a landmark special section of 17 longitudinal studies published in Child Development, the field's top journal. Together they walk through what parents have been told about "Covid kids" versus what the actual research shows about learning loss, executive functioning, and child mental health five years later.
What you’ll learn:
● Why longitudinal research tells a different story than the "learning loss" headlines
● Which kids were actually at higher risk — and which weren't
● Why reading recovered faster than math after school closures
● How parent-child closeness buffered teens against long-term depression and anxiety
● The infant study that found zero effect of Covid on biological aging
● Why grade inflation and parent-teacher distrust may explain more than the pandemic does
🔗 RESOURCES & LINKS:
Learn More About This Episode's Guest: 📖 Dr. Anna Johnson:
https://www.cdsplab.org/faculty
https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014TwO9AAK/anna-d-johnson
🔬 The Child Development special section, "Children's Developmental Trajectories in the Long Shadow of COVID-19":
https://academic.oup.com/chidev/advance-article/doi/10.1093/chidev/aacag153/8763937
Read more on this topic:
📚https://www.cdsplab.org/tulsa-seed-briefs
📚https://academic.oup.com/chidev/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/chidev/aacaf030/8505765
📚https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-01613-001
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