Disadvantaged teenage girls and gender-diverse adolescents are at the highest risk of developing mental health issues during high school.
New research from the University of Sydney looked at the lives of more than over 6600 Australian teenagers, in the largest of its kind study, to provide new insights into adolescents’ mental health.
Lead author Scarlett Smout said the study showed female teenagers, especially those from lower-socio economic backgrounds, and gender-diverse adolescents were significantly more likely to experience worsening mental health symptoms over their high school years.
Dr Smout said researchers surveyed teenagers’ multiple times from years seven to year 10, allowing them to track how mental health symptoms developed over time.
She said mental health symptoms were alarmingly common and increased as teenagers aged.
“By year 10, nearly three in 10 teens in this sample had probable major depression, almost one in four reported high mental distress and nearly one in four had moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms.”
Study co-author Katrina Champion said knowing which groups were most at risk was vital to help inform what support and programs were offered.
“Compared to males, females and gender diverse teens experienced greater symptoms of distress, anxiety and depression, especially those from less affluent backgrounds,” Dr Champion said.
“More work needs to be done directly with teenagers in these vulnerable groups to develop tailored mental health prevention and support programs,” she said.
Read the full study: All things being equal? Longitudinal patterns of mental disorder symptoms and associations with key social determinants in a large cohort of Australian adolescents.
