A bit on this study and why it's important to actually read studies and not just read Guardian articles about said studies.
It seems pretty clear cut and concerning doesn't it? Study says, lockdowns prematurely aged adolescent's brains, girls more than boys.
It certainly is concerning.
I'm the kind of person who reads studies. But most don't. So, let me tell you what I found...
The datasets they had were scans from 2018, 2021 and 2022. So a dataset before the pandemic started and two from during the pandemic but a significant amount of time after lockdowns happened.
This text is included in the dicussion section - 'we do not know whether contraction of the COVID-19 virus itself may have contributed to these findings, though in the community from which our study sample was derived, COVID-19 prevalence was widespread, and we have found no reports of a sex disparity in contraction of the virus.'
This text too - 'nor did we collect data on families’ job security, financial insecurity, and/or food insecurity, which might also be associated with structural brain changes. Data on exercise, sleep, or diet, which have been reported to have been greatly affected by the pandemic lockdowns, would also be valuable'
The study drew a correlation between lockdowns and premature brain aging in adolescents. Essentially (and yes, I am simplifying but not to the point of misrepresenting the study) the correlation is that we see a difference in the brain scans of adolescents from before and after the pandemic (lockdowns being a part of that). And that in female brains 'all of these regions are involved in many cognitive functions, one commonality is that they have all been linked to social cognition'.
The study didn't focus on defining the cause of these changes, as you can see above, data on things that definitely cause accelerated/premature brain aging was not included/collected.
So, IMO, all this study can really claim is that between the years of 2019 and 2022 something caused accelerated brain aging in adolescents, more so in females.
But from reading the Guardian article you would think they have 100% proven their claims.
Correlation should not be posed as causation.
theguardian.com/science/articl…
It seems pretty clear cut and concerning doesn't it? Study says, lockdowns prematurely aged adolescent's brains, girls more than boys.
It certainly is concerning.
I'm the kind of person who reads studies. But most don't. So, let me tell you what I found...
The datasets they had were scans from 2018, 2021 and 2022. So a dataset before the pandemic started and two from during the pandemic but a significant amount of time after lockdowns happened.
This text is included in the dicussion section - 'we do not know whether contraction of the COVID-19 virus itself may have contributed to these findings, though in the community from which our study sample was derived, COVID-19 prevalence was widespread, and we have found no reports of a sex disparity in contraction of the virus.'
This text too - 'nor did we collect data on families’ job security, financial insecurity, and/or food insecurity, which might also be associated with structural brain changes. Data on exercise, sleep, or diet, which have been reported to have been greatly affected by the pandemic lockdowns, would also be valuable'
The study drew a correlation between lockdowns and premature brain aging in adolescents. Essentially (and yes, I am simplifying but not to the point of misrepresenting the study) the correlation is that we see a difference in the brain scans of adolescents from before and after the pandemic (lockdowns being a part of that). And that in female brains 'all of these regions are involved in many cognitive functions, one commonality is that they have all been linked to social cognition'.
The study didn't focus on defining the cause of these changes, as you can see above, data on things that definitely cause accelerated/premature brain aging was not included/collected.
So, IMO, all this study can really claim is that between the years of 2019 and 2022 something caused accelerated brain aging in adolescents, more so in females.
But from reading the Guardian article you would think they have 100% proven their claims.
Correlation should not be posed as causation.
theguardian.com/science/articl…
The difference bewteen what the article says and what the study says is HUGE.
..and as someone pointed out, in my post I say 'after the pandemic' I meant after the lockdowns. The pandemic is not over.
OK. Time for bed and changing who can reply. As much as I'm resilient, starting my morning reading 400 comments from trolls telling me I'm an evil, mentally ill woman who hates her children is not the way I like to start my day.
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