Teenage girls in mental health crisis

A new report from University College London and Liverpool University describes a growing mental health crisis among British teenagers, suggesting that one in four teenage girls is suffering from depression.

The study, based on more than 10,000 young people, found that nearly a quarter of 14-year-old girls, and nearly 10% of boys, have symptoms of depression, including feeling inadequate, lonely and unloved, and hating themselves.

Researchers surveyed children and their parents and found that about 10% of parents with children aged three to 10 said their child had emotional problems.

That level remained constant between the ages of 11 and 14 in boys, whereas among girls, after the age of 12, it rose to 18%.

And when the children were asked about their feelings at the age of 14, a quarter of girls described themselves as depressed. By contrast, around 10% of boys did.

Depression was more common in girls from mixed race and white backgrounds than among those from black African and Bangladeshi families.

The findings were based on a questionnaire in which children were asked whether any of the 13 statements – such as “I felt lonely”, “I cried a lot”, and “I thought I could never be as good as other kids” – had applied to them in the past fortnight.