Another Kind of Long COVID: The Psychosocial Impact of COVID-19 on Neuropsychological Development

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread and sustained psychosocial disruption for children and adolescents. This introductory workshop reviews youth mental health and learning during the pandemic, focusing on developmental implications. The presenters discuss the impact of sudden and prolonged educational disruption on cognitive, academic, social, and emotional development. They also consider the impact of reduced access to interventions, especially on early identification and treatment of emerging concerns in marginalized youth. These factors have influenced and altered the developmental trajectory of this generation in a lasting way that needs to be considered in assessment, intervention, and in designing supports, now and in the future.

• Name three groups shown to be at highest risk for adverse impact of educational disruption.
• Define the impact of educational disruption on academic skill acquisition and implications for interpretation of test scores and making learning disorder diagnoses.
• Identify ways that psychosocial changes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have altered the development of cognitive, emotional, and social skills, and discuss the implications for long-term functioning.

• Mary Colvin, PhD
• Jennifer Reesman, PhD
• Tannahill Glen, PsyD