Teens experience gender gap in emotional support, future planning: Study

• A new survey found high school students’ biggest concern is depression and anxiety, with roughly 3 in 10 putting them at the top of their lists. It also found there’s a disparity in concerns for girls and boys.
• Teens said anxiety and depression were more common in girls, but it’s also easier for them to turn to friends for emotional support than it is for boys.
• Significantly more girls say they plan to attend a 4-year college after high school than boys.

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With how much the world has changed in such a short span of time, teenagers can seem like one of life’s greatest mysteries, but a new study is helping to clear some things up.

A Pew Research Center survey of nearly 1,400 people between the ages of 13 and 17 finds that while there is some common ground among all teens, many of the issues they face impact boys and girls differently.

What are teens’ biggest concerns?

The survey asked the teens about the biggest problems they’ve seen in their schools.

The biggest portion, 30%, said anxiety and depression were the most common issues among their peers. Of those, 39% said they’re more common in girls than boys.

Meanwhile, nearly 1 in 4 (22%) said bullying was a major problem, and 19% pointed to drug use as a major issue.

When it comes to the specific pressures teens face, girls say they feel more pressure to look good and fit in than boys, while boys feel more pressure to be physically strong and good at sports.

Gender gap in post-high school plans

Academically, there are also some major disparities when it comes to plans after high school.

More than half (53%) of all students said they plan to go to a 4-year college.

However, more girls than boys make up that group, with 60% of girls saying they’ll attend a 4-year college, but only 46% of boys saying the same.

Meanwhile, boys are more likely to go to vocational school, head straight to work out of high school or join the military than girls are.

What’s most important to teens?

Now, kids are also putting less importance on getting married and having kids of their own.

When it comes to priorities, 86% of the students surveyed said getting a job they love is extremely or fairly important to them.

Having a close group of friends ranked just as high for 69% of teens, and 58% said a major goal is having lots of money.