Girls suffer emotional toll of pandemic as anxieties mount, support systems fail

Girls and gender-expansive youth collectively faced greater mental health barriers, more caregiving responsibilities and fewer resources during the pandemic, according to a new report from the Oakland-based nonprofit Alliance for Girls.

Using mixed method analyses to survey more than 1,200 girls across the state, the report found that the isolation in the early stages of the lockdown left 66 percent of participants with greater feelings of stress or anxiety in various ways.