Les effets du port du masque sanitaire sur les jeunes enfants en lieux d’accueil collectif

Introduction

Mandatory for professionals working in collective care facilities with children aged 3 months to 3 years, the wearing of a mask modifies information that is crucial for verbal and non-verbal communication, which is essential for social development.

Objective

An exploratory survey aims to collect the perception of these professionals of the children's reactions to the wearing and removal of the mask.

Method

In mid-December 2020, 586 people recorded 895 observed reactions to the wearing of masks and 793 to their removal in a questionnaire posted on a site dedicated to early childhood professionals.

Results

The content analysis of the discursive corpus indicates that 75% of the observations on the wearing of the mask mainly concern problems in interactional experiences and difficulties in language activities, with 25% indicating no notable reaction in the children. When the mask is removed, more than half of the observations refer to positive effects: improved relational exchanges, better involvement in activities, particularly language activities, positive emotional reactions, etc. The testimonies also evoke an ostensible attentional activity to the (re)discovery of the adult's whole face, negative emotional reactions and sometimes a non identification of the adult.

Conclusion

The majority of professionals perceive difficulties in the areas of language communication and social-emotional interaction. The overall data, although not conclusive due to the inherent limitations of the method used, are consistent with the results of other studies on the effects of wearing a mask on speech and social perception.