The thread where this came from already has these articles.
OK- how about some cites? I know that researchers have had the same thoughts. Surely there is a study out there?
Here are some cites to get you started:
NY Times report (unfortunately, they don’t seem to find any issues in socialization):
Psychology Today:
Another report from UPI:
I’ll add a few more cites.
As was noted in the thread, the primary caregivers would mostly be unmasked in their own home, so the child would see a lot of their caregivers’ faces. In addition, some people in the articles are recommending transparent face masks and being more intentional about giving face time.
September 17, 2020
Will face masks impede a child’s development? Here’s what the experts say.
But parents shouldn’t worry too much, experts say Despite these challenges, experts said parents shouldn’t worry too much about face masks interfering with their children’s development, as children are malleable and can pick up language and social skills in a variety of ways.
“We should give more credit to our own children,” Eva Chen—a developmental psychologist and associate professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who studies children’s cognitive development—said. “[B]eing covered for a few hours every day isn’t going to make them less able to recognize social expressions.”
As Chen explained, children focus on much more than just an individual’s mouth; they also pay attention to voices, gestures, and body language. In fact, a 2012 study found children could recognize facial emotions equally well whether or not a person was wearing a face mask. Moreover, there’s no evidence that children raised in cultures where mask wearing is fairly common, such as Hong Kong, fare any worse than other children at recognizing faces or emotions, Chen said.
Overall, the research to date demonstrates that the visible articulations that babies normally see when others are talking play a key role in their acquisition of communication skills. Research also shows that babies who lip-read more have better language skills when they’re older. If so, this suggests that masks probably hinder babies’ acquisition of speech and language.
Of course, the news is not all bad. Babies spend much of their time at home with their unmasked caregivers. It is only in day care or when out and about with their parents that they don’t see whole talking faces. Therefore, it may only be those situations that may have long-term negative consequences for babies. We need more research to tell us if this is the case.
Babies learn an enormous amount of information from faces. From language to social cues, developmental psychologists say faces are a learning tool in the same way that books are. But with the coronavirus pandemic prompting orders and recommendations...
Est. reading time: 2 minutes
Infants primarily focus on the mouth between 4 and 8 months old, and then again around 14 months when they begin word learning , according to Scott. Research also shows 5-year-olds pay close attention to mouths during conversation.
Yeah, what parents can do is they can get children to be comfortable and to start learning to recognize expressions, even with a mask on. So you could play what I call, ‘Am I mad, sad, happy or scared?’ game. So you have a mask on and you make a mad face with the mask on and you say, “Am I mad, happy or sad?” And if the child says, “You’re mad,” you lift up the mask [and say,] “You’re right, I’m mad, now it’s your turn.” This can help children to learn that facial expressions are more than just a mouth. There are other clues. There are eyes that can give you information.
Conclusion
When caring for babies and families, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges for health professionals and parents. It is likely that during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the population will cover their faces with a mask when in public, and in certain social situations. The difficulty in determining what facial expression a person is exhibiting behind a mask may present challenges for infants and young children as they depend on their parents’ facial expressions, coupled with tone and/or voice to regulate their reactions toward others. Health professionals should understand the potential effects of prolonged mask wearing to minimise any potential long-term impact on neonatal development and optimise psychological outcomes for babies, infants, children and their parents.