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On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s democratically-elected government was overthrown by the military. As well as exacerbating nationwide political instability, the coup has further compounded the deep socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while military-enforced national conscription laws have threatened the safety and personal freedoms of young people across the country.

Young people in Myanmar have suffered  following the coup. As well as physical threats to their safety, they have faced many stressors which can have long-term impacts on their mental health, such as separation from family, displacement from their homes and loss of access to education. The protracted conflict reinforces entrenched gender-inequalities, which disproportionately affect adolescent girls and young women, yet there has been little evidence on how girls’ mental health has been affected.

In a new study led by researchers at the ������app of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UCL and Girl Determined (GD), 750 girls and young women aged 10–21 were surveyed on their exposure to conflict-related stressors and their mental health. The research is published in .

Girls in five regions who were registered to GD, a Myanmar-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), were invited to complete the survey. Every participant was enrolled in GD’s empowerment programme “Circles”, which prioritises reaching marginalised girls.

The survey found that 40% of respondents reported direct experience of armed combat, 33% were separated from their family because of the conflict and 10% had lost family members.

Nearly all participants (94%) reported at least one depression symptom: in particular, almost one third had considered harming themselves, and nearly 70% reported that they feel so unhappy they cannot sleep at night. Unsurprisingly, conflict-related stressors such as displacement, armed combat, family death and disrupted access to education were significantly associated with reporting a higher number of depressive symptoms.

The extent of the conflict’s impact on girls’ psychological wellbeing in Myanmar underscores the need for practical strategies to mitigate harm, such as peer-support groups for girls who have been separated from their parents, and training in basic psychosocial support for teachers and boarding house staff.

This research offers insights into the type of conflict-related exposures that could be most useful to target mental health interventions. The authors suggested that interventions should prioritise girls separated from their parents, those who have been displaced, those out of school and those who are in the closest proximity to armed combat.

Isabelle Pearson, Research Student at LSHTM and lead author on the study, said:

“With research and humanitarian access in Myanmar so severely restricted, these findings offer a rare but urgent insight into the mental health impacts of conflict on adolescent girls across the country. As Myanmar faces both protracted violence and the aftermath of a major earthquake, there is an immediate need for tailored support for those most affected.”

Professor Cathy Zimmerman, co-founder of LSHTM’S Gender Violence and Health Centre and a co-author on the study, said:

“Girls and young women in Myanmar are living through war, displacement, and disaster - but the world has stopped watching. Their voices are missing from the headlines, yet many have witnessed terrifying violence that no child should ever see. For these young women and girls, the long-term effects of what they have seen, family members they have lost and opportunities missed will be profound.”

With almost  adolescent girls around the world currently living in conflict zones, evidence on how war impacts girls’ mental health is essential. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable as, unlike younger children, they are mature enough to understand the severity and long term-implications of conflict.

To ensure the safety of the research team and study participants, the survey was conducted in regions of Myanmar where the conflict was less severe at the time of the study. These results are therefore likely to be an underrepresentation of the severity of the conflict and mental health crisis. Additionally, the survey was carried out before the devastating earthquake that hit Myanmar in March 2025, which will undoubtedly exacerbate the conflict’s effects on girls’ education, mental health and physical safety.

The study was funded by an LSHTM Doctoral Project Travelling Scholarship, a Bloomsbury PhD Studentship and the Millby Foundation.

Publication

Pearson I et al, , Conflict and Health. doi:10.1186/s13031-025-00668-y