Girls face 'sharp rise in emotional problems'

[HapShawl]

this was in the news yesterday but i didn't have time to post about it

this is the bbc report www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-32350566

press release from UCL www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0415/200415-emotional-problems-girls-rose

peer-reviewed article (behind paywall) www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(15)00064-6/fulltext

it's a comparison of two questionnaires, one completed in 2009 and one in 2014, indicating a sharp rise in reported emotional problems in girls aged 11-13

the researchers suggest that reasons for this could be "increasing stresses on girls and young women, ranging from academic pressure to their increasing sexualisation and objectification amplified by social media"

it's both worrying and not surprising IMO

Yes I saw that the other day. Agree it is worrying and not surprising.

I live in hope that this will be treated as a the gendered issue it is and that some more research will be conducted as to the reasons why. And of course something done about it. It is useful to have these figures, but ultimately we don't want girls to have these pressures/emotional problems so it has to be tackled.

They've gone some way to naming the problem, lets see if it remains named and the root cause(s) are identified and dealt with.

I'd be surprised if this wasn't the case. It seems to be pretty bleak for young people now. The boys are all watching porn and comparing the girls to what they see.

There is a very set way girls are expected to dress/appear with little variation (see long hair thread).

Even if they do do well at school they'll get into shed loads of debt to get a degree which they have a high chance of never using. Good jobs come from who you know. Meritocracy is dead.

Girls study hard and do well in school but are then told the education system is biased against them.

There are few decent female role models in the media.

There is no escape from scrutiny- selfies & social media mean they are always on show. Their mistakes are permanent.

It's really depressing!

i agree about naming the problem. i'm feeling very pessimistic about it all atm though

Yy jackieharris. There will be a correlation between this and what's being discussed on the anal sex thread. It certainly forms part of the picture of pressure facing teenage girls these days .