코로나 세대(Covid-Generation) 아동의 발달 추적 연구 (Ⅰ)

Abstract

The purpose of this study’s five-year task is to examine the current development status of pre-school children (children aged 1~5 years old in terms of childcare center age) and accumulate data to understand the impact of the experience of the COVID-19 crisis and the overall environment of the changed, due to COVID-19. A survey on the current status of child development on cohorts by child age (1~5 years old) and an in-depth developmental survey of 2 years old (Bayley) and 5 years old (Wechsler) were conducted. A literature of study on the Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Child Development were reviewed and the measurement tools for children, parents, and teachers available by age were listed focusing on the standardized scale for measuring child development. In consideration of the situation in which the utilization rate of institutions aged 1 to 5 exceeds 85% by age, the multi-cohort sampling was implemented as a stratified sampling of infant education and childcare facilities nationwide (institutional types such as daycare centers and kindergartens), child age, and regional size- Weight calculation for survey data results collected in 2024 (first year). The parent-teacher K-DST survey results of this study show a similar pattern of responses between parents and teachers by childcare age, but the difference is relatively large, with the ratio of in-depth evaluation recommendations and follow-up test requests being higher in teacher responses than parents, and responses to peer and fast levels being relatively large in parent responses compared to teachers. By developmental area, the difference between parents and teachers’ responses was the largest in ‘language development’, and the difference between self-help and small muscle exercise was also large. When asked on a 5-point scale how they feel about their child’s overall development, parents found that their overall development was (slightly + quite) fast 48.7%, usually 40.4%, (slightly + very) slow 10.8% (cf. teacher’s slow 12.1%). The results of the developmental characteristics of children in the COVID-19 generation also show significant differences according to vulnerable characteristics such as mother’s educational background, household income, and low income/single parent/multiculturalism, as well as regional size and regional characteristics. Therefore, it implies that an approach and monitoring system are needed to prevent the accumulated gap in the environment and resources experienced by children and the early life parenting process, that is, an advanced approach to support child development is needed.