Source: the age
Staying positive … Meg, Ashleigh, Claire and Emma.
Photo: Sahlan Hayes
A strange thing can happen to girls as they move from year 7 to year 10 - a certain loss of hope.
They start high school more confident than boys about their ability to achieve their goals. But as they move through adolescence they rapidly lose self-belief. By age 15 boys are far more "hopeful" than girls.
"Girls seem to have a tougher transition than boys from year 7 to 10," says Joseph Ciarrochi, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Wollongong.
Dr Ciarrochi has helped track the inner lives of 700 high school students from the Illawarra over six years.
And he has found, perhaps not surprisingly, that as the students move from age 12 to 15 they tend to become a little sadder, a little less joyful, and less hopeful about their ability to achieve important goals.
But it was the degree to which a sense of hope plummeted among girls that struck Dr Ciarrochi. "Something happens to girls on the way to year 10," he says.
US research, reported in 2007, pointed to what might contribute to girls' rockier journey. Girls experienced more stressful personal events in a week - from arguing with a parent to getting kicked out of school.
And they also reacted more strongly than boys to the same events.
"If there is a romantic fight between a boy and a girl, on average a girl will respond with more depression," said Benjamin Hankin, assistant professor of psychology at the University of South Carolina. "A boy will go distract himself."
Louise Newman, professor of developmental psychiatry at Monash University, said girls were still raised to put more focus on relationships, self-reflection and appearance. "There is a pressure on girls to be seen as popular by girls and boys, and the relationships between girls can be more competitive than supportive," she said.
Dr Ciarrochi said the loss of hope could lead to under-achievement. "But I suspect the girls will rebound by year 12," he says.
In year 7, Meg Mclellan wanted to be an actor. She never entertained the thought her hope would not win out. Three years later, the student at Loreto Normanhurst is still positive. So are her friends, but she has more doubts now.
"I still have the desire to try really hard but there's not the optimism and the belief that I will be able to do it," the 15-year-old said of acting. "You question yourself and you … know there will be challenges."
Ashleigh Norman said: "In year 7 you compare yourself to yourself. Now you compare yourself to other people and that's really undermining."
Claire McGregor said: "Everything is far more complex. We're just more worried."
The Wollongong study also revealed that young people who engage in antisocial behaviour are less happy than their peers.
Far from feeling part of a "cool" crowd, they experience high levels of shame and low levels of hope. Dr Ciarrochi said the shame, rather than prompting better behaviour, tended to make them hostile at the world.
Last week the State Government announced a $100,000 grant to Dr Ciarrochi and his colleagues, Professor Patrick Heaven and Dr Peter Leeson, to conduct a study of young people, this time to focus on antisocial behaviour. The Minister for Juvenile Justice, Graham West, said the aim was to determine why some young people developed behavioural problems in their adolescent years and others did not.
"We can't always get rid of poverty or bad parental care," Dr Ciarrochi said, "but if we understand why some young people react better to their circumstances than others, we may be able to help."
