Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40571863›Full record

ArticleChild psychiatry and human development2025

Generational Trends in Children's Shyness: Does COVID-19 Matter?

Louis A Schmidt, Christina A Brook, Raha Hassan, Xiaoxue Kong, Taigan L MacGowan, Kristie L Poole, Laura A Theall, Michelle K Jetha

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Child psychiatry and human development, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Louis A SchmidtDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada. schmidtl@mcmaster.ca.
Christina A BrookDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
Raha HassanDepartment of Psychology, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Xiaoxue KongDepartment of Psychology, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada.
Taigan L MacGowanDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
Kristie L PooleDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
Laura A TheallChild and Parent Resource Institute, London, ON, Canada.
Michelle K JethaDepartment of Psychology, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although early childhood shyness is known to portend later internalizing-related problems, we know relatively little about how broad socio-cultural and socio-historical factors shape children's shyness. In this study, we leveraged the COVID-19 pandemic as a quasi-experiment to examine generational and period differences in parent-reported children's shyness at the same age in three separate cohorts (N = 648): Generation Z (tested: 1999-2000, n = 217, M = 4.43 years), Generation Alpha: pre-pandemic (tested: 2018-2019, n = 217, M = 4.76 years) and mid-pandemic (tested: 2021, n = 214, M = 4.47 years). The two Generation Alpha groups did not differ on shyness levels despite the pandemic-related social restrictions, and both Generation Alpha cohorts had unexpectedly relatively lower parent-reported shyness levels today compared with Generation Z assessed approximately twenty years ago. Observed behavioral measures of shyness collected prior to the pandemic on a subset of children also revealed lower levels of shyness in Generation Alpha pre-pandemic compared with Generation Z, converging with parent-reported findings of shyness. Findings suggest that generational differences in children's shyness may result from more protracted socio-cultural influences than from acute period effects such as COVID-19 lockdowns.

Indexed as

Children’s shynessCOVID-19 pandemicGenerational differencesMeasurement invariancePersonality developmentSocio-cultural influences

Identifiers

PMID40571863

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.