Year 2020 stunted social development of young adults: study

A new study by US researchers has claimed that 2020 has been so traumatic for the younger population that it has stunted their social development.

The study, which has been published in the Social, Psychological, and Personality Science journal, compared the social development of more than 500 young people from California in 2020 and 2019.

The researchers tracked 415 young people in the 18-35 age group from California over eight months in 2020 and compared them with 465 young Californians in the same age bracket in 2019.

The findings revealed that young adults were less satisfied with their relationships and felt less supported by their friends in 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic made its presence felt all across the world.

The study found that young people described feeling more stress and anxiety in 2020 as opposed to previous years. The researchers believe that the affected people even lost out on opportunities because of this.

"If everything goes well, young adults select into social networks, initiate friendships and romantic relationships, and find their occupational niche," said lead study author Dr Janina Bühler.

"Our findings, however, show that external stressors and environmental variations may set young adults on a less fortunate path," she added.

A similar study by The Prince's Trust also revealed that young people were at their lowest in 13 years when it came to feeling happy. The trust was founded by King Charles III in 1976 with the aim to help young adults.

The researchers surveyed 2,106 young adults for their study and found that almost 23 percent of young people in the UK believed they would never recover from the effects of the pandemic on their lives.

The study found that the pandemic has had a great impact on the emotional well-being of young people.

"This alarming downward spiral of anxiety, stress and lack of confidence for the future will impact young people today and in future generations, while widening the gap for the most disadvantaged," Jonathan Townsend, the UK chief executive of The Prince's Trust, said in February.