Thousands of girls as young as 11 are hiding signs of “deep distress” from their parents and teachers, according to an “alarming” report that reveals a “growing gulf” between the mental health of girls and boys.
Record numbers of children are seeking access to NHS mental health services amid the pandemic as detailed in multiple studies over the last year.
Now an analysis of data from 15,000 secondary pupils by Steer Education points to a worrying new trend of an increasingly stark divide between the mental health of girls and boys. Experts fear this could be a long-lasting result of the Covid crisis.
Online responses from 92 state secondary schools in England from before the pandemic up to December 2021 show girls aged 11 were 30% more likely to suffer from poor mental health than boys of the same age. By 18, girls are twice as likely to experience mental health issues than boys.
The number of girls who seek to hide their problems from others has also risen, with 60% of girls going to great lengths to hide feelings of unhappiness before the pandemic compared with 80% now.
Girls are 33% more likely to experience poor mental health than those the same age as them before the pandemic while boys are 12% more likely to do so. The report suggests girls’ mental health is most at risk between the ages of 14 and 18.
Compared with 2018, both boys and girls are 40% less trusting of others, 25% less likely to take risks and 25% less able to choose an appropriate response to life challenges. Between April 2021 and October 2021, the number of children aged under 18 needing care for issues ranging from self-harm to eating disorders had increased by 77% comparedwith the same period in 2019.
Simon Antwis, Steer Education’s senior education consultant, said: “Schools are understandably deeply worried by the growing numbers of students with poor mental health. We should be particularly alarmed by the state of girls’ mental health in secondary schools – it is at a precipice and the pandemic has exacerbated a worrying trend we have seen now for many years.
“The growing gulf between boys’ and girls’ mental health looks to be one of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic, with recovery from school closures taking a long time. But perhaps particularly concerning is the number of girls who are now keeping their worries and fears to themselves, making it much more difficult for their teachers to identify them as vulnerable and in need of support.”
