The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education for all children, particularly for children with disabilities. Many preschools closed, offered distance learning or nothing at all, or operated in a hybrid format. We examined the impact of enrollment on young children’s social and emotional adjustment for children with and without disabilities, as well as caregiver stress during the pandemic as reported by 229 caregivers of 3 to 5 year old children. Respondents were predominantly White (n = 175) and female with high levels of education and income. In addition, 94% of caregivers were biological/parental caregivers. Children enrolled in preschool and who experienced in-person instruction received more favorable ratings of their social and emotional skills compared to those who were not enrolled or did not receive in-person instruction. However, the benefit of being enrolled and receiving in-person instruction disappeared when children had a stressed caregiver. Of note, children with disabilities had significantly higher ASQ scores than those without disabilities and caregivers with children with disabilities had a higher PSI score. Further research is needed to understand mitigation efforts employed by families and the unique experiences of culturally, linguistically, and racially/ethnically diverse children and their families.

COVID-19 大流行扰乱了所有儿童的教育，特别是残疾儿童。许多幼儿园关闭，提供远程学习或根本不提供任何服务，或者以混合形式运营。我们研究了入学对残疾和非残疾儿童的社会和情感适应的影响，以及大流行期间 229 名 3 至 5 岁儿童的照顾者报告的照顾者压力。受访者主要是白人（ n = 175）和受教育程度高、收入高的女性。此外，94% 的照顾者是亲生/父母照顾者。与未入学或未接受现场指导的儿童相比，参加学前班并接受现场指导的儿童在社交和情感技能方面获得了更有利的评价。然而，当孩子的照顾者压力很大时，入学和接受面对面指导的好处就消失了。值得注意的是，残疾儿童的 ASQ 分数明显高于非残疾儿童，而残疾儿童的看护者的 PSI 分数也更高。需要进一步的研究来了解家庭采取的缓解措施以及文化、语言和种族/民族多样化儿童及其家庭的独特经历。