A recent survey revealed that COVID-19 has severely impacted the social and emotional well-being of adolescents, especially teenage girls. According to experts, loneliness and isolation are plaguing young girls at alarmingly high rates.

Statistics from the research brief presented by The Rox Institute for Research & Training showed that 79% said they felt more lonely and isolated, 1 in 4 battled with depression, 96% said they missed going to school, and one-third of the girls surveyed admitted to spending over 6 hours on social media.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the girls aged 10-14 in the survey experienced more feelings of loneliness than they did prior to the pandemic. Mary Pipher, a clinical psychologist, told the Journal that spending more time online and less time in person with friends was one of the underlying reasons for the loneliness.

“All the things that a year ago were increasing girls’ depression has been exacerbated by the pandemic,” Pipher said, adding that she used to encourage teens to spend more time in person with others and less time on social media platforms, but with COVID-19, it’s too risky.

An earlier survey confirmed that “the spread of the coronavirus has upended life for American teenagers.” More than 95% of 13-17-year-olds in the U.S. had in-person classes cancelled, and 80% of them reported watching news of the coronavirus closely, which added to more than half of them being worried that they or someone in their family would be exposed to the virus.

The survey, conducted by Common Sense Media last spring, also confirmed that teenage girls were more likely (49%) than teenage boys (36%) to feel lonelier than usual during the pandemic.