ABSTRACT

Concerns about mental health difficulties in young people, mid-adolescent girls in particular, are on the rise. Many explanations ranging from peer pressure and bullying, to social media and gender inequality, have been offered for the rise in mental health problems. This study utilised data from the Millennium Cohort Study (Wave 6) to examine 14-year-olds’ mental health and wellbeing in relation to familial and peer interactions, gender, socio-economic factors and social media use. Across measures of mental health and wellbeing, the findings showed that girls fared much worse than boys, particularly in experiencing negative feelings and low self-concept and life satisfaction and in self-harming. Teenage girls appeared to have become the new ‘high risk’ group. The findings from this study have implications for young people’s mental health and wellbeing especially as seen through the lens of income and gender inequality. Given the current political concerns about young people’s mental health, this study is hoped to contribute to an informed debate about individual wellbeing within a broader social milieu.

摘要

对年轻人，尤其是青春期女孩的心理健康困难的担忧正在上升。人们对心理健康问题的增加提出了许多解释，从同伴压力和欺凌到社交媒体和性别不平等。本研究利用来自千年队列研究（第 6 波）的数据来检查与家庭和同伴互动、性别、社会经济因素和社交媒体使用相关的 14 岁儿童的心理健康状况。在心理健康和幸福感方面，调查结果表明，女孩的表现比男孩差得多，尤其是在经历负面情绪、自我概念和生活满意度低以及自我伤害方面。十几岁的女孩似乎已成为新的“高风险”群体。这项研究的结果对年轻人的心理健康和福祉具有影响，尤其是从收入和性别不平等的角度来看。鉴于当前对年轻人心理健康的政治担忧，希望这项研究有助于在更广泛的社会环境中就个人福祉进行知情辩论。