Reducing confidence is common in all sexes during puberty, according to Jane Mendell, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. Mendel, who studies the effects that puberty has on the mental health of adolescents, especially girls, also said that girls have a steeper decline in self-esteem during puberty.
Definition of puberty
Puberty is not as easily determined as most can think, but an average of about a four -year process.
“Puberty is transformative and involves a change in almost every domain of life,” Mendell said. Although puberty markers for girls often start with physical changes and end with Menarche – the first menstrual cycle – there are also major changes in behavior, emotions and social relations, she continued.
Girls who pass through puberty earlier than their peers are on Increased risk of mental health problems And on medium the girls begin puberty earlier than in previous decadesS It is now not uncommon for the first stages of puberty to start at 9 years and to start just under 12 for the short stages of puberty.
“It would not be exaggeration to say that the average puberty period now looks like what we are talking about about the early puberty, say, the 70th or the beginning of the 80,” she said.
One of the reasons why more puberty can be difficult is that “physical development, cognitive development and emotional development do not necessarily appear in sync,” says Mendell. “When every child begins to show obvious signs of physical development, they will find their own world, which is changing. They will be treated differently by other people and tend to be provided with more autonomy,” Mendell said.
Because puberty involves significant social changes, girls who go through puberty earlier, “can make it difficult to keep friends with friends who have not developed at such a rate,” Mendell said. “Although puberty is defined by its biological characteristics, I think about it as a fundamental social transition and the context in which children are experiencing it is truly forming how it develops,” she continued.
Puberty and social media
Now young people are increasingly tech and have more access to digital technology than generations before. In the past, young girls, curious about puberty and the changes they accompany, may have gone to their mother or a bigger sister for advice, Mendel said, but now they may be more interested in Tiktok tracking applications and the period.
In addition to the reduced confidence, the richest group studied by ROX also noted the biggest increase in the use of social media. In the 2023 report, 95% of the 5th and 6th grade girls surveyed said they were using social media, and 46% of those using social media spend more than six hours a day on these platforms – compared to only 9% in 2017. Others. studies of teenage social media demonstrate Like Usage levels.
According to the ROX 2023 Girls Index, social media uses a negative impact on the confidence of girls, the quality of sleep and the ability to focus in school.
In spite of them Strong correlations between the increased use of social media In adolescent girls and reduced confidence, Hinkelman said it was important to remember that this did not mean a causal relationship. “I think (social media) can strengthen some of the existing challenges that are more about girls,” she said.
Hinkelman noted that as puberty and access to information and technology happen earlier, Rox sees challenges that have historically affected girls of older age, affecting girls older and more younger. “It’s as if they’re old, younger,” she said.
Impact in schools
The effects of reducing the mental health of girls and increased factors for the use of social media in a post-fill educational landscape that puts tension to teachers, Hinkelman said.
Chelsea Tabor, a school advisor, said her students are aware of the persistence of their online imprint. While they rely on social media to contact friends and maintain relationships, they are also worried about the conflict, because everything they publish online can be screenshot and share with unforeseen recipients, Tabor said.
This means that this behavior and lack of confidentiality online can prevent girls from having vulnerable conversations when they need to, she said.
In previous years, Tabor has exercised with his students as part of their social media hygiene. It encourages girls to view their emissions on social media and identify publications that make them feel inadequate or negative. Then Tabor suggests that they remove these accounts.
Support for adults and schools for girls
The ROX 2023 girls’ index found that two -thirds of all parents rarely or never monitor the use of their children on social media.
According to Hinkelman, it is important to invest in the education of adults who influence the life of girls because “being ten today is really different than 20 or 30 years ago.” As for support, the girls surveyed indicated that they need adults in their lives to Listen to them without judgmentHinkelman said.
Puberty can be an isolating experience, so parents should make sure that their children know that everyone is experiencing some form of puberty, but one person’s attempt may not be the same as this one.
According to Mendell, studies show that girls who know what to expect when it comes to puberty and periods are less suffering after they had their first period. Normalizing the conversations about periods and providing children’s opportunities to ask questions is an easy way for parents to help with these expectations, according to Mendel.
While social media and internet are useful tools to collect information about periods, girls continue to announce that their Parents are the people they rely on most about their information. “But it is undisputed that children today are oriented in a very, very different world socially and technologically than when many of the fundamental studies of puberty were first made,” Mendell said. Parents may offer to seek information online for periods and puberty with their children to help them determine accurate and reliable resources.
Asking questions is a normal part of puberty, Mendel said, but young people are not as informed as they should be when it comes to this transitional life experience. It is important that adults are aware of the effects that the school environment can have on the experience of the student in puberty, she continued. The reminder of children is that puberty is not only a physical transition, but it can also affect relationships and friendship can help students get better in social conditions at school.
Independence through puberty
When children go through puberty, they often think that everything is completely different in their lives. And while children go through change, there are many things that remain the same. According to Mele, young people should be aware of the continuity of themselves through puberty – the idea that they are the same person before, during and after. The practice of continuity is “shown that it is related to buffering the psychological impact of puberty,” Mendell said.
Children may need help to connect the threads of their before and after the pubis, Mele continued. Parents can help connect these topics by talking to their children about the similarities and differences between school settings during this four -year transition.
