Researchers from The University of Manchester have worked directly with teenage girls to uncover what they believe could help turn the tide on rising rates of anxiety and low mood.
From their early teenage years, girls are more likely to experience low mood and anxiety. They are twice as likely as boys to experience depression by age 15, and new evidence suggests this gap has been growing for more than a decade.
To find out what could make a real difference, a team of experts sat down with 32 teenage girls across England to ask a simple but vital question: What would actually help?
Among the findings Teenage girls want practical, long-term changes rather than quick fixes while the girls highlighted pressures from school, social media and gender expectations
They also called for safer, more supportive schools and communities
The study’s insights come as schools and health services grapple with an unprecedented rise in mental health difficulties among young people.
The research team say they hope the findings will help shape future policy and funding decisions on girls’ wellbeing.
What the researchers said
“We talk a lot about girls’ mental health and why it might be worsening, but a lot of the available research does not engage with girls’ own views on this,” said Dr Ola Demkowicz, senior lecturer at the Manchester Institute of Education and co-lead author of the study.
“Here, we wanted to work with girls as a starting point to explore how we can approach this issue in ways that can meet their needs. The girls we spoke with made it clear that they don’t just want coping strategies – they want real changes in the environments where they live and learn.”
“The girls spoke powerfully about pressures from school, social media and gender expectations,” said co-author Dr Rebecca Jefferson, who helped to run the focus groups.
“They had thought-through, actionable ideas – not just for support, but for changing the systems that affect them.”
