Why Do Teenage Girls Tend To Suffer From Anxiety and Depression More Than Boys?

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Recently a study called "Psychological well-being in adolescence: associated psychological variables and predictors" was conducted by a multidisciplinary group formed by Maganto Carmen, Peris Monserrat, and Sánchez Roberto. Published in the European Journal of Education and Psychology revealed that psychological well-being seems to be linked to healthy lifestyle habits and with various components of a positive personality. The data collected in the study show that we worked with 1075 people of both sexes, aged between 13 and 18 years, of which 514 are male, that is, 47.8%, and 561 female cases, that is, 52.2%.

The findings indicate that positive psychological variables are lower in women than in men, that is, women's self-concept is in a percentile of 142.29, and for men, it is at 147.56. The same happens with other psychological variables, such as body self-esteem (5.68 for women versus 7.08 for men), extraversion (8.39 versus 8.85), emotionality (4.11 versus 4.97), subjective well-being (99.63 versus 106.56) and material well-being (36.24 versus 37.40). Research showed that men considerably outperform women not only because of gender but also because of age.

Similarly, the report evaluated psychopathological variables, so women indicate higher scores than men. Among these variables are somatization with 0.89 points for women and 0.62 points for men, anxiety with 0.83 points for women and 0.57 points for men, obsession-compulsion with 1.11 points for females and 0.57 points for males, depression with 0.95 points against 0.59 points, interpersonal sensitivity with 1.09 versus 0.72, psychoticism 0.55 vs. 0.47, paranoid ideation with 0.89 vs. 0.74, hostility 0.75 versus 0.73 and phobic anxiety with 0.37 vs. 0.24.

Women & Vulnerability Factors

Another study called "Why do women get depressed more than men?" conducted by Gaviria Silvia, psychiatrist and head of the department of psychiatry at CES University in Colombia, and published in the Colombian Journal of Psychiatry revealed some vulnerability factors and depressive disorders that are more frequent in women than in men.

In this vein, the data collected show that there is greater vulnerability during the period of reproductive age, that is, between 15 and 44 years of age women, because they assume more roles and commitments than men. That is why research suggests some vulnerability factors, such as:

• Hypothesis of the artifact. This point is called the assumption of systematic error in the collection, which suggests gender differences, where women overreport their physical and psychological problems. Meanwhile, men report fewer of those symptoms.
• Hormonal components. Hormonal factors may be associated with the reproductive cycle and can generate female depression, due to the effects of hormonal estrogen, nerve transport, neoplasia, and daily systems involved in mood diseases.
• Genetic components. Some analyses explain that the highest prevalence is depression in women, but the researchers found similar inheritance in both men and women.
• Existing anxiety. The high incidence of depression in women is linked to anxiety disorders that are twice as common in women as in men and begin as early as childhood.
• Social conditions and roles. Women's experiences differ in many ways from men's, not only because of their personal, business, financial, social, professional, and political relationships but also because of the dual tasks of home and work.

Overwhelmingly, women, girls, and adolescent girls tend to have greater risks and vulnerabilities than men. For this reason, their mental well-being is more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and disorders. That is why The Woman Post recommends you read their articles so that you are clear about the answers to why this happens to us.

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