Neighbourhood amenities may have helped youth mental health and stress early in the pandemic

Researchers investigated how the availability of neighbourhood amenities may have contributed to changes in youth mental health and stress levels during the first six months of the pandemic. (Unsplash/Paul Hanaoka)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, youth as a population group reported some of the largest declines in their mental health compared to other age groups in Canada.

Research on youth mental health during the pandemic has focused on poor academic engagement, loss of peer networks, missed milestone events and challenging summer employment experiences. Yet little is known about how the places where young people lived played a role in changes to their mental health during the pandemic.