# Effects of pandemic-related disruption to social connectedness on the brain and emotional wellbeing in adolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2022 · $847,969

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The social reorientation of the adolescent period is accompanied by extensive neurodevelopmental changes.
To understand the neurodevelopmental networks underlying responses to social environments and how social
connectedness influences neurodevelopment, manipulation of social connectedness among youth is required,
which is impossible in a large-scale setting. In 2020, the COVID pandemic happened, in the midst of
longitudinal follow-up of participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognition Development (ABCD) study, inducing
dramatic changes to social connectedness in adolescents in the study. Because the levels of stay-at-home
restriction were imposed agnostically to participants' pre-pandemic status, this becomes a naturally occurred
experiment on social connectedness among adolescents. Together with the comprehensive pre-pandemic
assessments, longitudinal follow-up with surveys and geolocation data collected during the pandemic period,
and the resumption of multimodal imaging scans and regular assessments restarting during, and continuing
after 2021, we can use longitudinal ABCD data to critically examine the relationships between social
connectedness and neurodevelopment among youth. In particular, we propose to use ABCD data to
investigate 1) the neurobiological and social factors (pre-pandemic) that render an individual more sensitive to
the disruption of social connectedness (peri-pandemic), contributing to emotional turmoil during and beyond
the pandemic period; 2) the modulating factors that buffer/exacerbate the emotion responses during a
prolonged period of social disruption (peri-pandemic); and 3) the extent of deviation in neurodevelopment after
the pandemic (post-pandemic) in relation to the varying levels of social disruptions in ABCD participants during
the pandemic. We will pursue these aims by utilizing a novel combination of methods from high-dimensional
data analysis and population inference, innovatively tailoring the analytic strategies to avoid potential biases
and spurious associations. The proposed research is of high public health interest because the identified
neurobiological mechanisms underlying the emotional responses toward the disruption of social
connectedness will provide novel insights for therapeutics and public health interventions in adolescents, due
to the population-informed ABCD sample. By sharing our developed tools and derived social variables for this
research program, we will impact the field immediately. These novel analytic tools enable us and others to
more deeply investigate with ABCD data, neurodevelopmental processes specifically related to social
connectedness. Results can inform peri- and post-pandemic clinical practice to regain and improve mental
health in youth.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10374459
- **Project number:** 1R01MH128959-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Fiona C Baker
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $847,969
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-03-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10374459

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10374459, Effects of pandemic-related disruption to social connectedness on the brain and emotional wellbeing in adolescents (1R01MH128959-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10374459. Licensed CC0.

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