A study carried out by a group of social and behavioral researchers from North America and Iceland has discovered that the coronavirus has had a harmful effect on adolescent mental health, particularly in girls. This study is the first to look into and record the gender and age-specific changes in adolescent substance use and mental health issues during the coronavirus pandemic, while taking into consideration the trends observed prior to the pandemic.
The researchers’ findings were reported in the “Lancet Psychiatry” journal.
The researchers discovered that in comparison with same-age peers before the pandemic, negative mental health outcomes were disproportionately recorded in older adolescents and girls aged 13 to 18. Concurrently, their findings show a decrease in alcohol intoxication, e-cigarette use and cigarette smoking in 15- to 18-year-olds during the pandemic.
John Allegrante, a professor of socio-medical sciences in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, who also happens to be an applied behavioral scientist and the collaborating senior investigator of the study, explained that the decline observed in substance use in the midst of the pandemic may be linked to the isolation that many adolescents experienced during the quarantine period.
The study’s co-principal investigator, assistant psychology professor and clinical psychologist at Reykjavik University Thorhildur Halldorsdottir, stated that the group’s research represented a contribution to data on how social isolation from friends and peers during the pandemic had been psychologically harmful for young individuals.
According to the scientists, previous studies hadn’t been designed to determine if substance use and clinically relevant depression levels had increased during the coronavirus pandemic.
Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis’ scientific director and sociology professor Inga Dora Sigfusdottir asserted that the study differed in methodology from prior studies because it tracked population-based prevalence of substance use and mental health outcomes over a number of years. The results helped to better understand the possible effects of the coronavirus from recent rising trends in adolescent mental health issues.
Allegrante observed that interventions aimed at lessening the negative effects of the pandemic on mental health in adolescents could help enhance the mental health outlook for young individuals across the globe who had been affected during the coronavirus pandemic. He added that the research demonstrated prevention efforts at the population-level — particularly efforts made to support young women — was justified.
The Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis’ chief data analyst Ingibjorg Eva Thorisdottir was the report’s lead author as well as its principal investigator.
The good thing is that a number of companies, including XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY) (OTCQB: XPHYF) (FSE: 4XT), are hard at work developing therapeutic formulations that may help to address the growing cases of mental health issues in vulnerable groups, such as teens.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY) (OTCQB: XPHYF) (FSE: 4XT) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/XPHYF
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