https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/03/09/childrens-iq-dropped-lockdown-study-finds/ Jump to content * Lockdown Files * News * Sport * Business * Opinion * Ukraine * Money * Life * Style * Travel * Culture * Puzzles Subscribe now Free for one month Log in See all News * Royals + Royals home + Queen Elizabeth II + King Charles III + Camilla, Queen Consort + Prince William + Princess of Wales + Prince Harry + Duchess of Sussex + More... * UK news + UK news home + Scotland + Wales + Northern Ireland * Politics + Conservatives + Brexit + Labour + Lib Dems + SNP + US politics * World + USA + Europe + Middle East + Asia + Australasia + Africa + Latin America * Health * Defence * Science * Education * Environment * Investigations + Investigations home + Signals Network + Contact us * Global Health Security + Global Health Security home + Climate & People + Science & Disease + Terror & Security + Women & Girls + Opinion & Analysis Children's IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds German research suggests stress, anxiety, and social isolation could have caused children to perform below their usual standards By Jorg Luyken 9 March 2023 * 2:28pm Germany school lockdown A teacher in an empty classroom in Dinslaken, Germany, uses an iPad to teach children at home during lockdown Credit: SASCHA STEINBACH/ EPA-EFE/Shutterstock A German study has shown for the first time that children's intelligence levels dropped when schools were shut down during the pandemic. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Trier, compared IQ scores carried out during the autumn of 2020 with testing done in 2002 and 2012. The scores showed a significant drop in intelligence levels compared to both years, with the average score plummeting to 105 in 2020, compared to 112 in 2002. The results suggest that lack of teaching in classrooms during lockdowns "had an impact, not only on children's learning but also on their intelligence test performance", lead researcher Moritz Breit told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper. At the same time, the results do not prove a direct link between lockdowns and a drop in intelligence among school children. No improvement in scores "Our study can provide an indication, but since the pandemic hit us very suddenly, the study design is of course not optimal. So it doesn't allow any causal statements," added Mr Breit. Factors resulting from the pandemic such as stress, anxiety, and social isolation could have caused the children to perform below their usual standards, the researcher cautioned. But the fact that follow-up testing a year later showed no improvement in scores has been taken as worrying. Researchers tested some 400 children from German grammar schools aged between thirteen and fifteen. 'Substantial impact on intellectual development' The results are particularly dramatic as they break with the so-called Flynn effect whereby IQ scores have improved from generation to generation, possibly due to factors such as better nutrition and schooling standards. While the Flynn effect has been less evident in recent years and even gone into reverse in some countries, the study's authors said that the big drop in scores in 2020 could not be explained by a general reversal of the trend. The drop "did not appear to be a continuation of a longer decreasing trend" the researchers stated, adding that the results seem to corroborate the hypothesis that regular schooling has a substantial impact on intellectual development. The results also suggest that the harm to children from distance learning affected the whole of society, not just working-class families, as some previous studies have suggested. 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