The covid-19 pandemic has had far-reaching impacts on people everywhere, but with divergent impacts across the life-course. There is growing recognition that adolescents have faced multidimensional consequences, fuelled by school closures and service disruptions.

This paper reviews emerging evidence on the effects of the pandemic on adolescents, drawing on the United Nations (UN) H6+ Technical Working Group on Adolescent Health and Well-being’s conceptualisation of adolescent well-being in terms of five intersecting domains. We complement the secondary evidence review with findings from longitudinal data collected by the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) programme pre- and post-pandemic with approximately 6,000 adolescents in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Jordan.

Our findings highlight the challenges facing adolescents during the covid-19 pandemic, and evidence that the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities is particularly salient for policy makers. While many adolescents are finding ways to cope, understanding how to promote adolescent resilience will be essential to ensure a rapid post-covid-19 recovery.

Authors: Sarah Baird, Nicola Jones, Nimisha Goel, Rebecca Dutton, Erin Oakley, Elizabeth Presler-Marshall, … and Workneh Yadete