The Costs of Pressure on Teen Girls
February 19th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update Presented by Jolyn Wells-Moran, PhD, MSW
Stephen Hinshaw, professor and chair of psychology at UC Berkeley says our teenage girls are paying the price of societal pressures to be busier, grow up faster, be thinner and more chic, competitive and caring than ever before. He points to the epidemic of mental health issues among this group that includes eating disorders, depression, problem aggression, suicide attempts and self-mutilation. A new book by Hinshaw and Rachel Kranz called, “The Triple Bind: Saving our Teenage Girls from Today’s Pressures” (Ballantine Books, 2009) explains.
The “triple bind” in the title of the book refers to conflicting messages about what girls can and should be, particularly from the media. Hinshaw recounts that one in four teenage girls will suffer a serious mental health issue before the age of 20. He’s convinced this is a result of many girls reaching for perfection as its unrealistically and often, unhealthily, depicted in pop culture, while trying to meet high expectation of their schools and parents. Many who try, invariably fail, and mental health suffers. He gives a nod to genetic vulnerability, but says the rate that the mental health disorders among teen girls has risen indicates environmental factors at play.
Hinshaw encourages parents to ease up on the pressures for extracurricular activities in preparation for prestigious colleges. While some planning for college is usually necessary, too many girls are caught up in a whirlwind of activities and are sleep-deprived. Many are trying to be supermodel size, when an ideal weight for them isn’t the size 2 or 4 they seek. Some work for the best grades possible, also in anticipation of college or to please parents, with little chance to reflect on what they enjoy and are interested in. They’re involved with boyfriends at a younger age and unprepared for the emotional and sexual intimacy entailed.
The book is the result of several years Hinshaw spent working with teenage girls who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) where he says the girls had the same issues plus many more than than boys with the disorder. The experience led him to research what’s happening to teenage girls today. The authors provide sound data, as well as persuasive analyses, to tell us that girls need some breathing space in the teen years to discover who they are, develop healthy values and shape their lives according to those values and their interests.
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11 comments so far
Call me old fashioned but I am convinced that so much of what is wrong with teen and adolescent girls today has its roots in what they see online and on television. Hollywood and magazines give our girls all of these very unrealistic expecations that they feel that they have to live up to and it is proving to be too much for them to handle. It is tough for me to handle at times so I know what it must feel like to be a teenager looking at these images and say that this is not healthy when that is all they see as role models for them. We have to put our foot down as parents and not allow our kids to be suckered in by these unrealistic images and teach our kids that they are better and smarter than this and that the most important thing is to be them selves and not what they think someone else thinks they should be.
I agree with Holly – there with the proliferation of social networking websites, it the pressure on teens has skyrocketed. Not that these sites are a bad thing, but there needs to be a recognition of the subcultural pressures that can arise from what folks share.
I have a granddaughter who has very much succumbed to what the world thinks is the ideal image that teenage girls should project. Therefore she is now struggling with an eating disorder that is leaving her hard pressed to overcome. Her parents have tried everything and we are all just scared out of our minds that intervention is just not working for her. She has yet come to the realization that she is not fat even though she is withering away before our eyes. It is sad. But I look at the magazines in grocery stores and all you see screaming at you from the covers are all about the latest and greatest new diet plans and how wonderful this celeb looks in a bikini now that she has lost 20 more pounds and now weighs a whopping 90 pounds. We have to open our eyes and see what this is doing to all women, and more seriously to our young girls. They are learning from a very early age that fat is frowned upon and that they will be liked more and perceived as prettier the thinner they are.
I totally agree with Holly. I am a generation apart from my cousin who is 17 years younger than I am. She is 15 and has been waxing since she was 11 and going on dates regularly for the last 1 year. I was shocked to see her recently with a guy who is 20 years her senior and it definitely didnt look like they were on a study tour. Its sad to see how much peer pressure and pulp pressure has gotten into kids these days especially girls. Being in the beauty business we feel sad to see 10 year olds worried sick about their figures or their nails. They would rather manicure their nails than build sand castles.
There are many others out there Maggie who are dealing with the same things. I will say a prayer for you and your family. There is hope but it will take time. Take care.
It makes me so sad to even think about all of these things that young girls are now having to deal with, all way before the time when they should even have to be thinking about them. And what can you do to stop it? tell them they cannot watch tv or go online or even talk with their other friends who are going through the exact same things? There is almost no way to shield them anymore.
Parents shouldnt try to achieve their dreams through their children. Sometimes as a parent I feel tempted to. Its not wrong to want to be slim and fit and healthy but making that a whole life’s obsession is very wrong. My neighbour doesnt bake a cake or buy butter or sugar and her kids who are 6 and 13 have to live their mom’s way of life. That is sad. Sometimes all that whole wheat, multi grain just needs a sunday off!!
There is a touch of reality that is missing in everything nowadays. Pick a paper, magazine, look at an ad, even food labels, everything is designer and everything designer is thin. I think Asia and to be very specific India has woken up to this realisation that their models need to be more natural and not some hieroglyphic stick figures. I hope we all educate our children in the not so worldly ways as well. There is nothing unique about anyone anymore.
Teen girls feel like they have to compete or be better looking to get that certain guy or get attention. When I was growing up, that didn’t even cross my mind.. yeah, I heard people saying that my sister was prettier and that she was the better looking one of all of us and it does make you sad and depressed and a lot of these girls just want to get the attention… But it’s the wrong way of doing it… They don’t need to starve themselves and if we can get them some education and teach them that outer beauty is not everything… that may help… I know teen girls have a mind of their own but we need to instill in their minds they are beautiful just the way they are.
Heather, that is easier said then done… yes, I think it’ll help if we teach them, but when they hang out with friends and their friends start dieting and doing things, they more than likely will want to do the same, just to fit in. I just wish some of these girls would wake up and realize what is on TV and Magazines, don’t necessarily mean they are happy.
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