When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and forced millions of young people into isolation, one thing did not pause—puberty.
For many girls, this period of change normally unfolds in classrooms, cafeterias, and playgrounds, surrounded by peers.
But during lockdown, those experiences were altered, raising questions about how puberty and mental health intersected in such an unusual context.
Kathleen McCormick, a doctoral candidate in psychology at Cornell University, set out to answer that question.
Working in the Adolescent Transitions Lab led by Professor Jane Mendle, McCormick focused on how puberty related to depression during the pandemic.
Traditionally, research shows a clear link between puberty and depression in girls.
Entering puberty earlier than peers, or being more physically developed than others the same age, is often associated with higher depressive symptoms.
Puberty, after all, is not just a biological shift—it is also a deeply social experience, shaped by comparisons with friends, peer reactions, and social pressures.
But McCormick’s new study, published in Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, found that the pandemic disrupted this pattern. With schools closed and learning moved online, the usual social environment was missing.
As a result, the link between pubertal timing and depression that had been documented for decades did not hold in the same way.
“One possibility is that remote schooling allowed adolescents to conceal physical changes in ways they couldn’t before,” McCormick explained. “Another is that the overall stress of the pandemic was so overwhelming that it overshadowed the role puberty typically plays in mental health.”
The findings suggest the latter. Depression scores among girls during the pandemic rose sharply. Using a standard scale that measures depressive symptoms in children, McCormick’s team found that before the pandemic, girls’ average score was 14.2, just below the threshold for probable depression. During the pandemic, that average jumped to 23.65—well above the threshold, indicating a dramatic increase in distress.
The study also examined the role of menarche, or a girl’s first menstrual period. Before the pandemic, the age at which girls reached menarche was not strongly linked with depression. But during the pandemic, those who experienced menarche earlier reported greater depressive symptoms, suggesting that isolation may have intensified the challenges of early puberty.
Another notable finding was that the more time had passed since menarche, the more likely girls were to report depressive symptoms, both before and during the pandemic. McCormick believes this pattern deserves further study, as it may highlight a critical period for mental health interventions.
Importantly, the study drew from a large and diverse sample of nearly 600 girls across the United States, providing insights that extend beyond one region. McCormick sees this as one unexpected benefit of pandemic-era research: the ability to collect data from a broader range of participants.
Ultimately, the study adds to the growing evidence of a youth mental health crisis that worsened during the pandemic.
It also underscores that puberty is not just a private, biological process, but one shaped by the social environment—and when that environment changes, so too does its impact on mental health.
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