New Study Finds Genetic Vulnerability Amplified the Pandemic's Toll on Teen Mental Health

​Laureate Institute for Brain Research analysis of more than 10,000 adolescents shows symptoms didn't just spike during COVID-19 — they kept climbing, hitting genetically at-risk girls hardest.

Tulsa, OK — A new study from researchers at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) finds that adolescent mental health did not simply dip and recover during the COVID-19 pandemic. For many teens — especially those with a genetic predisposition to psychiatric conditions — symptoms rose sharply in the pandemic's early months and continued climbing for years afterward. 

The study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, was led by Chun Chieh Fan, Ph.D., of LIBR's Center for Population Neuroscience and Genetics, together with co-lead author Lucy Shao of the University of California San Diego. The team analyzed data from more than 10,000 adolescents in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, a long-running national project tracking child development in the United States, following participants from before the pandemic through early 2022.

Symptom levels rose 4 to 14 percent during the pandemic's early months compared to pre-pandemic levels, the researchers found — and rather than easing, they climbed even further, landing 6 to 24 percent higher still during the later pandemic period. Teens with a higher genetic risk for conditions such as depression, anxiety, and neurodevelopmental disorders experienced a steeper toll: each step up in genetic risk corresponded to as much as a 21 percent increase in symptoms.

The pandemic's impact also diverged sharply by sex. Boys' symptoms tended to level off or even improve as the pandemic wore on, while girls' challenges kept building — particularly among those with higher genetic risk. 

"We are particularly interested in the impact of social isolation on adolescents' health," said Dr. Fan. "While there were many studies reporting the crisis among youth, there was limited discussion on who is most susceptible." 

The findings suggest that recovery from pandemic-era stress was not automatic, especially for teens most biologically primed to be affected by it. Researchers say the results could help identify which young people may need the most support during future public health crises.

The full study, "Contributions of Genetic Liability and the COVID-19 Pandemic to Rising Psychopathology Among Youth in the United States," is available in Translational Psychiatry.

Read the full study:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-026-04184-2

About the Laureate Institute for Brain Research
The Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) is a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based nonprofit research institute dedicated to understanding the biological basis of mental health and developing more effective, personalized treatments for psychiatric conditions. ​