A new study suggests that prolonged school shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic severely harmed children’s mental health, leading to surging rates of anxiety and depression that only began to ease after schools reopened.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Researchers analyzing medical claims from a major California insurer found a direct connection between school closures and heightened spending on mental health treatment for children aged five to 18. According to The New York Times, the data show that 2.8% of children required professional mental health care during lockdowns. Within months of returning to in-person learning, those numbers fell sharply—children became 43% less likely to seek mental health treatment.
Girls were found to be especially affected. The study’s authors wrote, “School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted children’s education, socialization, and access to mental health resources, raising concerns about long-term effects on [children’s] mental health,” adding that “in-person learning is an important component of children’s mental health.”
Medical and prescription costs for depression and anxiety began falling about four months after campuses reopened, the Times reported. Within half a year, mental health drug spending declined by 7.5%, while therapy and related services dropped by 10.6%.
Dr. Rita Hamad, a Harvard social epidemiologist and co-author of the study, said she wished such data had been available when policies were being decided. “This is definitely a piece of evidence that I wish we’d had at the beginning of the pandemic to inform the conversations we were having,” she told the Times. “I think the decisions may have been different if we had seen that the benefits of school closures were being outweighed by risks like this.” She added, “The hope really is to inform policymaking the next time around.”
Others caution against drawing firm conclusions. Economist Benjamin Hansen told the Times the delayed drop in mental health visits might also coincide with vaccine rollout. “There is a delay which makes me wonder what else they could be picking up,” he said, noting that “vaccines came, and people stopped worrying about dying.”
Beyond mental health, the academic setbacks from extended closures have been widely recorded. Even by 2024, fewer than one-third of fourth- and eighth-grade students read at a proficient level, and large numbers continue to struggle with basic math.
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