Research has shown that the pandemic exacerbated teen mental health issues, as the lockdown severed connections between young people at the most critical developmental stages. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), nearly 20% of those aged 12 to 17 had a major depressive episode in 2022. The percentage of high school students reporting feelings of sadness and depression has increased since the onset of the pandemic, although adolescent mental health was already steadily declining, per the CDC.
[A] new study found the pandemic may also have changed the teenage brain structurally—most dramatically affecting teen girls as compared to teen boys.The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal … found that teen girls’ brains aged 4.2 years faster than they normally would and teen boys’ brains aged 1.4 years faster than they normally would during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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The authors hypothesize that stress played a role in the brain’s accelerated aging—and that teen girls, who are more apt to socialize emotionally with peers, experienced the structural brain changes of the lockdown more dramatically.
