The pandemic badly affected young people’s mental health – but also showed what they need now to thrive

By Jilly Gibson-Miller, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sheffield

The common narrative around teenage behaviour in the UK sets parents up for a fairly sustained period of turbulence and unpleasantness.

But as I navigate the teenage years with my oldest daughter, now 16, my whole outlook on adolescence has undergone a meteoric transformation. I now hold supremely compassionate explanations for the unusual behaviour, mood swings and bad choices that appear to be abundant features of the adolescent years – and especially so for those who were growing up during the pandemic.

During the COVID pandemic, teens should have been busy cultivating…

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