Youth Anxiety After the Pandemic: Where It Actually Stands

Key Takeaways

The increase was real and large — roughly one in four children with clinically elevated depression symptoms and one in five with elevated anxiety, about double pre-pandemic estimates.
It has partially receded, not resolved. Icelandic survey data from 2023 shows improvement on 2021 while remaining above pre-pandemic levels.
There are also signs of reversion toward pre-pandemic levels. The picture is genuinely mixed, and the sources pointing both ways are cited below.
Recovery is uneven. In one trajectory study most young people were resilient or recovered, but around one in nine showed difficulties emerging after the acute period.
Youth mental health was already declining before 2020. The pandemic accelerated an existing trend rather than starting one.
Elevated symptoms are not diagnoses. They are a reason to ask, not a conclusion.
What helps has not changed — a graded approach rather than avoidance, and professional help where it is more than a rough patch.

What actually happened to youth anxiety

The claim that the pandemic was hard on young people gets made loosely. It is one of the better-measured claims of the period, so the numbers are worth stating precisely.

Pooling studies from the first pandemic year, roughly one in four children and adolescents globally had clinically elevated depression symptoms (25.2%) and one in five had clinically elevated anxiety symptoms (20.5%) — about double pre-pandemic estimates. The figures rose the later in the pandemic a study was run, were higher in girls, and depression symptoms were higher in older children.¹

Where it stands now

This is what the earlier version of this page could not say, because the follow-up data did not exist yet.

What Iceland's national surveys show

The Youth in Iceland surveys were administered nationwide to 13-to-15-year-olds in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, with an average 75% response rate. This is a repeated cross-sectional design — different students each wave, sampled nationally, rather than one group followed over time.

Depressive symptoms showed signs of improvement in 2023 compared with 2021, yet remained higher than pre-pandemic levels measured in 2016 and 2018. Anxiety followed the same pattern.² The authors describe it as among the first studies to examine adolescent mental health after the World Health Organization ended the pandemic's status as a global health emergency in May 2023.

So: better than the peak, not back to where it started. That is the most defensible summary of where things stand.

The picture is genuinely mixed

An analysis of US family medicine records covering 2017 to 2023 found that short-term changes stabilized for many groups and conditions, but increases in anxiety and mood disorders persisted among older adolescents, especially females — while also noting signs of reversion to pre-pandemic levels.³

Both halves of that belong here. A page arguing that things have not recovered, while omitting its own source's hedge, would be doing the thing this page exists to correct.

Note what that study measures. It counts rates of primary-care visits carrying a mental health diagnosis, which is not the same as symptom prevalence in the population. Diagnosis rates reflect help-seeking and access to care as well as illness, and all three moved during this period.

Was youth anxiety already rising before the pandemic?

Yes — and this is the part usually left out of pandemic narratives.

The state of youth mental health in the United States was deteriorating before 2020.³ A nationally representative analysis of the National Survey of Children's Health covering 2016 to 2022 and 239,534 children and adolescents found parent-reported anxiety diagnoses rose from 6.9% to 10.6% and depression from 3.1% to 4.6% across that period.⁴

That window includes the pandemic, so it cannot separate the two on its own — it establishes the direction of travel rather than isolating a pre-2020 cause. The authors' own framing is of "ongoing trends" rather than a single event.

Why it matters, in two ways. It means "things will settle as we get further from 2020" was never a complete theory, because the underlying trend predates the event. And it means a young person struggling now is not necessarily carrying a pandemic injury — they may be part of a longer pattern that deserves attention on its own terms.

Why recovery looks different for different children

Recovery is not a single curve. A three-wave study of 2,534 Chinese middle-school students, surveyed in June 2022, November 2022 and March 2023, identified seven distinct trajectory patterns: resistance (37.9%), recovery (22.6%), chronic dysfunction (12.1%), aftermath deterioration (10.8%), stress-responsiveness (8.2%), vulnerability (5.8%) and remitting (2.7%).⁵

That sample is Chinese adolescents in a specific school system, so the proportions will not map exactly onto a US population. The transferable finding is the shape rather than the percentages — that trajectories diverge instead of following one curve.

Two things follow. Most young people were resilient or recovered, around 60% between those two groups. And a meaningful minority were not, including roughly one in nine whose difficulties emerged after the acute period rather than during it.

A German longitudinal study of 523 participants found the same delayed pattern, with 8.4% showing deterioration that surfaced well after restrictions lifted.⁶ That study was in adults, so it corroborates the shape rather than the rate in children.

If your child seemed fine at the time and is struggling now, that is a recognized trajectory rather than a contradiction.

What protected the children who did well

The same trajectory study identified protective factors, and they are unglamorous and consistent: parental companionship, empathetic support, following through on what you said you would do, and active behavioral intervention.⁵ Being present reliably does more than any single conversation.

Elevated symptoms are not diagnoses

The figures above measure clinically elevated symptoms on screening instruments. That is not the same as a diagnosis.

Elevated symptoms are a reason to pay attention and a reason to ask — not a conclusion. Many young people score above a screening threshold during a hard stretch and are fine three months later. Others meet it consistently and need assessment.

The distinction that matters is not the score. It is persistence and impact: has this lasted, and is it costing them school, friendships, sleep, or things they used to enjoy?

Who is still most affected

Older adolescents — the elevation persisted here after stabilizing elsewhere³
Girls and young women — consistently higher across the pandemic literature and in the persistence data¹³
Young people who were already struggling — pre-existing difficulty is the strongest predictor of a poor trajectory
Those facing socioeconomic hardship⁶

What social anxiety looks like after a long disruption

Social anxiety is a persistent fear of being judged, and it is more than shyness — a shy child warms up given time, while a socially anxious child experiences real distress and avoids. Our page on social anxiety in children covers the full picture.

What tends to show up after an extended period of reduced social contact:

Reluctance to return to activities they previously enjoyed
Physical complaints — stomachaches, headaches — clustering before social events
Preferring text or online contact, and defending the preference
A shrinking circle described as "I just don't like those people anymore"
Declining invitations they actually want to accept
Avoiding participation-based classes, or dropping extracurriculars

The trap is that avoidance works. Every declined invitation produces immediate relief, which is exactly why the pattern strengthens rather than fading.

What helps: graded return, not avoidance

Build back in steps small enough to succeed:

Somewhere familiar with one person they already trust
Somewhere familiar with a small group
Somewhere new with one trusted person
A short version of the real thing — arrive late, leave early, and say so in advance
The full version

Move up only when a rung feels manageable, and expect to repeat rungs. Going back a step is not failure; it is the ladder working.

Reduce accommodation, supportively

Ordering for them, answering for them, declining invitations on their behalf — all understandable, and all things that maintain anxiety over time. Reducing accommodation works best when it is planned, explained in advance, and paired with warmth rather than withdrawn suddenly. Our social anxiety page covers the SPACE approach, where parent-based treatment performed as well as child therapy in a randomized trial.

What to say

Name the effort rather than the outcome. "I know that was hard and you did it anyway" lands better than "see, it was fine."

Do not argue with the fear. "There's nothing to worry about" invites a debate they will win. "That does feel like a lot, and I think you can handle it" acknowledges the feeling and expresses confidence, which is the combination that works.

Ask what would make it possible rather than whether they want to go. "Would it help if we arrived early?" gets further than "do you want to come?"

Check what else is going on

Sleep. Poor sleep both worsens anxiety and results from it — a systematic review assessing the direction of that relationship found it runs both ways — and it is treatable in its own right.⁸

Sensory load. A young person spending most of their capacity tolerating a loud environment has less left for social demands, and the resulting withdrawal looks like social anxiety. The two interact rather than simply sitting side by side: in a study of preschool children with anxiety disorders, sensory over-responsivity and irritability together mediated the link between anxiety and sleep problems.⁹ That sample is preschoolers rather than teenagers, so take it as evidence that the threads are tangled, not as a figure for adolescents. See when sensory issues and anxiety overlap and sensory over-responsivity.

Depression. In teenagers this often presents as irritability rather than sadness, which is why it gets missed — the American Psychiatric Association notes that in children and adolescents the mood "can be irritable or depressed."¹⁰ Where low mood is the more prominent thread, that is the thing to assess.

If your child talks about not wanting to be here, or you are worried about their safety, call or text 988 — the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Free, confidential, 24/7, and available to you as a parent seeking advice about your child. Text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. If they are in immediate danger, call 911.⁷

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the pandemic actually make young people more anxious?

Yes, measurably. Pooling studies from the first pandemic year, 25.2% of children and adolescents globally had clinically elevated depression symptoms and 20.5% had clinically elevated anxiety symptoms — about double pre-pandemic estimates. Figures were higher in girls and rose the later in the pandemic a study was run.

Have youth anxiety levels gone back to normal?

Not fully. Iceland's nationwide surveys of 13-to-15-year-olds found depressive and anxiety symptoms improved in 2023 compared with 2021 but remained higher than pre-pandemic levels measured in 2016 and 2018. US family medicine data through 2023 found increases persisted among older adolescents, especially females — while also noting signs of reversion toward pre-pandemic levels. The honest summary is: better than the peak, not back to baseline, and the picture is mixed.

Was youth anxiety already rising before COVID?

Yes, and it is usually left out. Youth mental health in the United States was deteriorating before 2020, and a nationally representative analysis of 239,534 children found parent-reported anxiety diagnoses rose from 6.9% to 10.6% and depression from 3.1% to 4.6% between 2016 and 2022. That window includes the pandemic, so it shows the direction of travel rather than isolating a pre-2020 cause — but the trend did not begin in 2020.

My child seemed fine during lockdown but is struggling now. Is that related?

It is a recognized pattern rather than a contradiction. A trajectory study of 2,534 adolescents identified seven distinct patterns, including one where difficulties emerged after the acute period rather than during it — around one in nine. A German study of 523 adults found a similar delayed-deterioration group at 8.4%.

Who is still most affected?

Older adolescents and girls show the most persistent elevation. Young people who were already struggling before 2020, and those facing socioeconomic hardship, show worse trajectories. Most were resilient or recovered — roughly 60% across those two groups in trajectory research.

Does an elevated screening score mean my child has an anxiety disorder?

No. Those figures measure clinically elevated symptoms on screening instruments, not diagnoses. Elevated symptoms are a reason to pay attention and to ask, not a conclusion. What matters is persistence and impact: has it lasted, and is it costing school, friendships, sleep, or things they used to enjoy?

Should I let my child avoid social situations that upset them?

Avoidance brings immediate relief, which is exactly why the pattern strengthens. A graded approach works better — build back in steps small enough to succeed, moving up only when a rung feels manageable, and expecting to repeat rungs. Going back a step is the ladder working, not failing.

When should I seek help rather than wait?

When the difficulty has lasted more than a few months, is costing school or friendships, or is getting worse rather than easing. Your child's pediatrician is usually the fastest route to assessment and referral. If your child talks about not wanting to be here, call or text 988.

Sources

Racine N, McArthur BA, Cooke JE, Eirich R, Zhu J, Madigan S. Global prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents during COVID-19: a meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics. 2021;175(11):1142–1150. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482. PMID 34369987. Pooled prevalence 25.2% for clinically elevated depression symptoms and 20.5% for anxiety, roughly double pre-pandemic estimates; higher in studies conducted later in the pandemic and in girls, with depression symptoms higher in older children.
Haskell E, Sigmarsdottir B, Thorisdottir IE, et al. Adolescent mental health before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland: a repeated, cross-sectional, population-based study. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. 2025. PMCID PMC12432985. Youth in Iceland surveys of 13-to-15-year-olds in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Depressive symptoms improved in 2023 relative to 2021 yet remained above pre-pandemic levels (2016: β −0.38, 95% CI −0.44 to −0.33; 2018: β −0.26). Repeated cross-sectional, not a tracked cohort.
Lowenstein C, Kamdar N, Rehkopf DH. Trends in youth mental health among patients in family medicine practices: 2017–2023. Pediatrics. 2026;157(5):e2025072305. doi:10.1542/peds.2025-072305. PMID 41967839. Measures rates of primary-care visits carrying a mental health diagnosis. Conclusion in full: older adolescent females experienced persistently high levels of diagnosed ADHD, anxiety and mood disorders, although there are signs of reversion to prepandemic levels. Notes that the burden of poor youth mental health was rising before the onset of COVID-19.
Casseus M, Reichman NE. Anxiety, depression, and behavioural problems among US children and adolescents, 2016–2022. Infant and Child Development. 2025;34(2):e70008. doi:10.1002/icd.70008. PMID 40485976. Combined 2016–2022 National Survey of Children's Health, n = 239,534. Parent-reported anxiety rose from 6.9% to 10.6% and depression from 3.1% to 4.6% across the period. Note that this window spans the pandemic and so shows the direction of travel rather than isolating a pre-2020 cause.
Peng P, He M, Guo J, et al. Recovery trajectories of mental health symptoms among Chinese adolescents following the end of COVID-19. Frontiers in Public Health. 2024. PMCID PMC11652372. 2,534 Chinese middle-school students across three waves (June 2022, November 2022, March 2023). Seven trajectories: resistance 37.85%, recovery 22.61%, chronic dysfunction 12.08%, aftermath deterioration 10.81%, stress-responsiveness 8.21%, vulnerability 5.76%, remitting 2.68%. Protective factors: parental companionship, empathetic support, promise fulfillment and behavior intervention.
Ahrens KF, Neumann RJ, Kollmann B, et al. Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health in Germany: longitudinal observation of different mental health trajectories and protective factors. Translational Psychiatry. 2021;11(1):392. doi:10.1038/s41398-021-01508-2. PMID 34282129. 523 participants in a German cohort assessed since 2017; three subgroups — recovered 9.0%, resilient 82.6% and delayed dysfunction 8.4%. An adult sample, so it corroborates the pattern rather than the rate in children.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (United States). Call or text 988. 988lifeline.org. Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741. Both checked August 31, 2026.
Alvaro PK, Roberts RM, Harris JK. A systematic review assessing bidirectionality between sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. Sleep. 2013;36(7):1059–1068. doi:10.5665/sleep.2810. PMID 23814343.
Yurumez E, Cikili-Uytun M, Efendi GY, et al. Do irritability and sensory over-responsivity mediate sleep problems in preschool anxiety disorders? A comprehensive investigation. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. 2026;47(2):e186–e191. doi:10.1097/DBP.0000000000001443. PMID 41380038. 45 preschool children aged 24–72 months with anxiety disorders and 85 controls; irritability and sensory over-responsivity significantly mediated the relationship between anxiety and sleep problems.
American Psychiatric Association. What Is Depression? States that in children and adolescents the mood "can be irritable or depressed." psychiatry.org. Checked September 1, 2026.

Medical disclaimer. This page is for general educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If your child talks about not wanting to be here, or you are worried about their safety, call or text 988, or go to your nearest emergency department. Assessment and treatment decisions should be made with a qualified clinician who knows your child.