Abstract

Abstract: Current reports suggest an increase in adolescent mental health symptoms associated with the pandemic, more marked in girls. In this talk, I present analyses which separate out pandemic and age typical maturation effects using three waves of data spanning pre-pandemic to post-lockdown in young adolescents from a UK birth cohort. Findings show the increase in girls depression is explained by a natural maturational rise, whereas boys show a pandemic-related rise in symptoms.

Biography: Dr Nicky Wright is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on using advanced statistical methods to identify risk and resilience processes in childhood and adolescent mental health problems. Her recent work uses prospective data to understand the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic on child and parent mental health, and to identify subgroups most at risk and provide potential targets for intervention. For detailed biography of Dr Wright, please visit: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/hpsc/our-staff/browse/department-of-psychology/profile/index.php?id=5435