In Jean Twenge’s most recent book, Generations, she offers research-based insight from different generations currently living: Silents, Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. In the chapter on Gen Z, she shared research I had not seen before about the mental health of adolescents during the pandemic—namely that mental health improved during the first three months of the pandemic as both anxiety and depression among teenagers dropped.
On the graph, notice the sharp drop in anxiety and depression among teenagers from April-June 2020 (the beginning months of the pandemic and our nation’s response to it).
According to research, early in the pandemic the mental health of adolescents actually improved. Jean Twenge highlights three likely reasons for the drop in anxiety and depression among teenagers: more sleep, more time with family, and healthier use of technology.
About more sleep: According to Twenge, “only 55% of teenagers in 2018 regularly slept seven or more hours but in the spring of 2020 85% of teenagers did so.” With schools closed, teenagers were able to sleep longer because of no commute. And with many of the activities canceled, “teens might have appreciated getting a break from the treadmill.”
About more time with family: According to Twenge, “two out of three teens said their families had become closer during the pandemic and more than half were spending more time with their families than before the pandemic.” There was a brief season, early in the pandemic, when families spent more time together, when teenagers had more conversations with their parents, and had more meals around the table.
About healthier use of technology: According to Twenge, “Teens in spring 2020 actually spent less time on social media and texting than in 2018 and more time on video calls…Since video calling is in real time, that may have helped counter feelings of isolation, while backing off from more anxiety-producing activities like social media.”
Reading that section in Twenge’s book challenged me as a father and a pastor. Obviously, none of us want to live through the first three months of a pandemic again, but there are a few reminders we can capture from those days to help increase the mental health of teenagers. The biggest reminder for me is that teenagers need time with their families. In the early days of the pandemic, we gathered as a family for worship in our living room and Bible studies around the table. We went stand-up-paddleboarding and to the beach more than we had in the previous months. We experienced more unrushed conversations and the depth of discussion that emerges.
We don’t need a pandemic to worship together or to have conversations around the table. And all those moments with my daughters are so important—from worshiping together in church to enjoying times together—for their emotional and spiritual development.
