Three 11 to 13-year-old girls in an average classroom of 30 now suffer emotional problems, after the rates of anxiety and low self-esteem rose by 50 per cent in five years, according to a study.
Researchers said the rise could be because of “increasing stresses on girls and young women”, including academic pressure and self-consciousness over their body image, amplified by social media. Problems such as low self-confidence, mild anxiety, deep unhappiness and tearfulness — all risk factors for more serious mental illnesses — rose by 55 per cent 2009 to 2014, researchers from University College London and the Anna Freud Centre found.
The rise means that while an average 2009 class might have one or two girls with emotional problems, the equivalent class in