HEALTH NEWS
Pandemic lockdowns aged teen brains by as much as four years, researchers from the University of Washington found.
The new study provides more evidence of how disruptions to daily routines may have contributed to health issues such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders in adolescent boys and girls.
The study also noted that girls’ brains, in particular, aged far faster than expected.
One of the study’s lead authors, Dr. Patricia Kohl, attributed the change to “social deprivation caused by the pandemic.”
She suggested that adolescent girls were hit harder because they are more dependent on social interaction — in particular, talking through problems with friends — as a way to release stress.
|