Coronavirus lockdowns caused teenage girls’ brains to age, according to new data. A study conducted by the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle looked at MRI scans of the brains of 160 adolescent boys and girls and found that girls’ brains had aged by 4.2 years, whereas the figure for boys was much lower at 1.4 years. The Institute’s co-director, Professor Patricia Kuhl, said, “We were shocked by these data, and the difference is so dramatic.”
Professor Kuhl attributed the difference to girls’ greater need for social interaction and tendency to talk to friends and express themselves more frequently. She said girls rely more on interacting with others for their “healthy neural, physical and emotional development.”
A comparable study conducted at Stanford University found similar results and concluded that the gender gap in terms of brain aging was around three years. Both genders, however, reported an increase in anxiety and depression post-lockdown, prompting experts to alert parents to pay extra attention to their teenagers and make sure to sit down and talk to them, encouraging them to open up.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the post-pandemic world witnessed a 25% increase in anxiety worldwide, with women more negatively impacted. The WHO has urged governments to invest in mental health services and has produced its own guidance to help individuals recover from the impact of lockdowns. These included a storybook for 6 to 11-year-old children.
Dévora Kestel, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use at the WHO, said the pandemic has “generated interest” in mental health but simultaneously revealed the lack of sufficient services in most countries, including for suicide prevention.
Research in the United States reports a significant increase in mental health problems during and after the pandemic, including a rise in drug use and overdoses. It also finds that 90% of Americans recognize there has been a downturn in mental health, with many people experiencing intense feelings of loneliness and instability. By February 2023, figures had begun to reduce but still remained high, with 32% reporting anxiety and depression.
