Covid lockdowns prematurely aged girls’ brains more than boys’, study finds. MRI scans found girls’ brains appeared 4.2 years older than expected after lockdowns, compared with 1.4 years for boys.

[u/mvea]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/sep/09/covid-lockdowns-prematurely-aged-girls-brains-more-than-boys-study-finds

[u/Sabz5150]

lack of social interaction

Something men are quite used to and can handle a bit better than women.

of they had varying levels of social interaction

Video games, in psrticular multiplayer ones, are the primary social interaction for men.

So you have a situation that men are already accustomed to while the main form of social interaction was their world? Wonder why they fared better...

[u/Jah_Ith_Ber → u/Sabz5150]

It could be that since they measured brain aging compared to baseline, we just have boys with aged brains due to lack of social inclusion as the standard. So the girls had further to fall.

[u/Sabz5150 → u/Jah_Ith_Ber]

Or women and girls who are more physical social (going out, socializing in person) were affected more than men and boys who are more virtual social (video games and chat). Socializing in person which is normally accepted became avoided at all costs while online interactions spiked and became acceptable.

The script was flipped: Women's preferred method of social interaction was totally cut off and shunned while men's preferred method of social interaction florished and was embraced.

[u/Jah_Ith_Ber → u/Sabz5150]

Those aren't boys and girls preferred method of socialization due to biological differences. They are learned preferences. The boys are excluded as the norm and thus their baseline was already bad.