Covid-19 has had a significant, detrimental impact on adolescent mental health, especially in girls, according to a large study published in The Lancet Psychiatry, after analysing over 59,000 adolescents.
The study found that negative mental health outcomes were disproportionately reported by girls and older adolescents (13-18-year-olds), compared to same-age peers prior to the pandemic. At the same time, it revealed a decline in cigarette smoking, e-cigarette usage and alcohol intoxication among 15-18-year-old adolescents during the pandemic.
The findings come close on the heels of yet another study that said that depressive symptoms are more common in teenage girls than in male peers. “However, boys’ mental health appears to be affected more if they suffer from obesity. Irrespective of gender, bullying is a considerably greater risk factor than being overweight for developing depressive symptoms,” said the study published in the Journal of Public Health.
The Lancet study quoted collaborating senior investigator John Allegrante, an affiliated professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and an applied behavioral scientist who said, “The decrease observed in substance use during the pandemic may be an unintended benefit of the isolation that so many adolescents have endured during quarantine.”
Thorhildur Halldorsdottir, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Reykjavik University, added: “the study is a landmark contribution to what we now know about just how psychologically devastating being socially isolated from peers and friends during the ongoing pandemic has been for young people.”
Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, professor of sociology at Reykjavik University, scientific director of the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis said the study “differs in methodology from previous studies in that it tracked population-based prevalence of mental health outcomes and substance use over several years in order to better understand the potential effects of Covid-19 from recent upward trends in adolescent mental health problems.”
The study shows that population-level prevention efforts, especially for girls, are warranted,” but that “more study is needed to determine the long-term effects of quarantine and being socially isolated from one’s peers, including the effects on learning and academic achievement and relationships with parents, siblings, and peers,” said Allegrante.