Feb 20, 2023 05:05 PM
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/...vulnerable
INTRO: A report published this month from the CDC has put a renewed focus on the vulnerabilities posed to young girls in our culture today. Of note, the report identifies that “teen girls are experiencing record high levels of violence, sadness, and suicide risk” (“U.S. Teen Girls,” 2023, para. 1). In fact, when it came to reporting on suicidal ideation or other mental health challenges, girls fared worse on every indicator relative to boys.
While some of these disparities may reflect a greater willingness for girls to disclose their mental health struggles than their male counterparts, such disparities are also consistent with the stark reality that girls are far more likely to be targets and victims of violence. Moreover, LGBTQ+ teens are a particularly vulnerable subset, facing extremely high levels of violence and challenges to their mental health. Such findings are consistent with research that identifies this group is at heightened risk for being bullied and targeted by their peers.
The recent suicide of 14-years old Adriana Kuch in New Jersey has raised the stakes regarding these trends. News outlets have reported that Kuch was the target of not only a physical attack at school but that the girls who had been bullying her apparently uploaded at least part of the assault on Tik Tok. It was the day after this assault and upload on social media that Kuch took her own life.
While suicide is a complex behavior and rarely the byproduct of just one cause, given the circumstances surrounding Kuch’s tragic demise, it bears reflecting on the cultural factors that pose risks to our young girls, undermining the societal guardrails that should ideally be present to protect our youth as they transition to young adulthood.
The Journal of Youth and Adolescence published a study in 2021 that attempted to unravel the relationship between screen time in emerging adulthood and suicide risk over the past decade (Coyne et al., 2021). When trying to untangle such patterns, as researchers we have to be sensitive in identifying that while trends suggest that suicide risk has increased at a similar pace with screen time, access to digital gadgets, and the explosion of social media consumption, cause and effect cannot be established unless experimental research is designed. This longitudinal research found that a high level of social media or other forms of screen use in adolescence was most predictive of suicide risk in emerging adulthood for young girls in particular... (MORE - details)
INTRO: A report published this month from the CDC has put a renewed focus on the vulnerabilities posed to young girls in our culture today. Of note, the report identifies that “teen girls are experiencing record high levels of violence, sadness, and suicide risk” (“U.S. Teen Girls,” 2023, para. 1). In fact, when it came to reporting on suicidal ideation or other mental health challenges, girls fared worse on every indicator relative to boys.
While some of these disparities may reflect a greater willingness for girls to disclose their mental health struggles than their male counterparts, such disparities are also consistent with the stark reality that girls are far more likely to be targets and victims of violence. Moreover, LGBTQ+ teens are a particularly vulnerable subset, facing extremely high levels of violence and challenges to their mental health. Such findings are consistent with research that identifies this group is at heightened risk for being bullied and targeted by their peers.
The recent suicide of 14-years old Adriana Kuch in New Jersey has raised the stakes regarding these trends. News outlets have reported that Kuch was the target of not only a physical attack at school but that the girls who had been bullying her apparently uploaded at least part of the assault on Tik Tok. It was the day after this assault and upload on social media that Kuch took her own life.
While suicide is a complex behavior and rarely the byproduct of just one cause, given the circumstances surrounding Kuch’s tragic demise, it bears reflecting on the cultural factors that pose risks to our young girls, undermining the societal guardrails that should ideally be present to protect our youth as they transition to young adulthood.
The Journal of Youth and Adolescence published a study in 2021 that attempted to unravel the relationship between screen time in emerging adulthood and suicide risk over the past decade (Coyne et al., 2021). When trying to untangle such patterns, as researchers we have to be sensitive in identifying that while trends suggest that suicide risk has increased at a similar pace with screen time, access to digital gadgets, and the explosion of social media consumption, cause and effect cannot be established unless experimental research is designed. This longitudinal research found that a high level of social media or other forms of screen use in adolescence was most predictive of suicide risk in emerging adulthood for young girls in particular... (MORE - details)
