Pandemic Stress Prematurely Aged Adolescent Brains

A recently published Stanford University study found that stress from the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted normal development in adolescents, leading to poor mental health and premature brain aging.

By comparing pre-pandemic MRI scans of adolescent brains with scans from a different group of adolescents after the pandemic shutdowns, researchers found changes in brain structure that occur with age were sped up by about three years in the latter group.

These brain changes include reduced cortical thickness and larger hippocampal and amygdala volume—traits that occur naturally with age but were accelerated compared to pre-pandemic brain scans, according to the study, which was published on Dec. 1 in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science.

Prior research linked exposure to early life adversity—such as violence, neglect and family dysfunction—to poor mental health and maladaptive development that may accelerate brain aging, according to the study.

Researchers said these hardships were likely heightened for adolescents during the pandemic.

“As a result of social isolation and distancing during the shut-down, virtually all youth experienced adversity in the form of significant departures from their normal routines,” the researchers stated. “In addition, financial strain, threats to physical health, and exposure to increased familial violence were alarmingly common during the pandemic.”

It’s unclear whether this premature aging will have long-term impacts on the age group’s mental health and brain function, according to researchers.

“Another critical task for future research is to determine whether these alterations are temporary effects of the pandemic or stable changes that will characterize the current generation of youth,” the researchers said.

Students attend an in-person English class at St. Anthony Catholic High School during the Covid-19 pandemic in Long Beach, Calif., on March 24, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Pandemic Learning Loss

Meanwhile, the short-term effects may be partly reflected in recent test scores across the nation.

This year’s Nation’s Report Card—a report by the U.S. Education Department published in October—showed students across the nation are still heavily affected by pandemic learning loss.

Eighth and fourth graders in nearly every state across the nation are recording lower mathematics scores than pre-pandemic years, while average reading scores also declined in the majority of states, according to the report.

Education officials also said this year’s declines in math are the largest ever recorded in the country.

One in four fourth graders tested below the mathematics standard in 2022—an increase from 19 percent in 2019—while 38 percent of eighth graders were below the basic math standard, an increase from 31 percent in 2019.

For reading, the percentage of fourth graders below the basic level increased from 34 percent in 2019 to 37 percent in 2022, and the percentage of eighth graders below the standard increased from 27 percent in 2019 to 30 percent in 2022.

While some attribute the cause of poor academic performance to school shutdowns, Stanford researchers also draw a link from school shutdowns to poor mental health.

The school closures not only resulted in academic disruptions but “social restrictions and reduced access to school-based mental health services,” according to the study.

The study originated eight years ago as a study investigating the effects of early life stress on puberty. Researchers were conducting MRI brain scans on teenagers every two years when they found signs of premature brain aging in groups after the COVID-19 shutdowns.

The researchers decided to conduct the new study where they compared a group of 82 teenagers ages 13-17 who experienced the shutdowns with a group of 81 teens who were scanned pre-pandemic. The groups were matched along the lines of sex, age, race and ethnicity, parental education, annual household income, and level of early life adversity.