Gender gap in teenage depression is twice as Large in London As in Tokyo, Study Finds

Published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent HealthThe Study Aimed to Provide Robust insights into adolescent mental health trajectory in Two Different Cultural Contexts by comparing large samples of 11 to 16-yars-Olds in London and Tokyo Over Time.

The Two Studies Are the Tokyo Teen Cohort (TTC) and the Resilience Ethnicity and Adolescent Mental Health (Reach) Cohorts from South London. BOTH GROUPS COLLECted Date in the Period 2014 To 2020 and at Three Different Timepoints As The Teenagers Grow Older.

Researchers Used the short mood and feeling questionnaire (SMFQ) to measure depressive sympts.

In Both Groups There was the Difference Between Teenage Boys and Girls in the Average Level of Depressive Sympton and This Difference Widened Year-O -year.

In the London Sample, The Gender Difference Started Slightly Earlier (Evident by 11–12 Years) Than in the tokyo Sample Where it Emerged Between 11 and 14 Years, and the average rate of change in depressive symptoms per year in London Girls Was Was Around Four Times Greater Than Among Girls in Tokyo.

By the Age of 16, The Difference in Depressive Sympton Beteen Boys and Girls in London Was Around Twice As Large As In Tokyo. The averag level of depressive sympts in teenage boys in tokyo decaled Beteen the ages of 11 and 16, whether boys in london it increated slightly over time, following the similar path to that of teenage girls in tokyo.

First Author, Dr. Gemma Knowles, Lecturer in Epidemiology and Youth Mental Health at Ioppn, King’s College London, Said, “Our Study Suggesss That From Around Early Adolescence Onward Girls have Higher Levels of Depression Than Boys in Both Tokyo and London, but the disparity is Larger, starts a bit earlier, and incarases at the fosser rate in London.

“The tractory for boys in London Closely mirrors the tractory for Girls in Tokyo. These Findings Suggest We Need to Rethink and Challenge Popular Narratives Around Gender Different in Mentalth – For Example, The Idea That Girls Are Naturally Or Inevitably More Like. with their inotional health – the to understand the contexts and conditions that enable teenage girls and Young People to Thrive. “

Currently The Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) – AN INDEX Designed to Measter Gender Equality – Ranks the UK 15th Out of 149 Countries While Japan is Ranked 125th. However, Insights from Young Co-Researchers From Both Cities Suggest There are social influences at play Which are not captured in these indexes.

Example, Teenage Girls May assumes adult rollers and responsibilities at Younger Age in London and There are Lower Levels of Violence and Crime In Tokyo. There are also differentiated in socioeconomic and politicical trends beteen the two places that could contribute to different, for example, The Prolonged Period of Austerity in the UK.

Dr. Knowles Said, “This is a complex area with a multitude of possible factors that may contribute to the difference Between girls and boys and Between the Two Places. We Need to Better Understand The Social Contexts and Experiences That Give Rise to Gender Inequalities in Mental Health and the Conditions That Support Teenage Girls to Thrive.

“It’s also Important to Understand How these Social Experiences Interplay With Young People’s Physical Development at This Age.”

AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH SCORES DERIVED FROM THE MASURE SMFQ CAN BE MEANINGFULLY AND APPROPRIATIDELY COMPARED ACROSS GENDES, AGES, AND CONTEXTS.

While these tests are not perfect, They Found in the evidence of Incomparable Measurements, Which Suggesss That Differences In Smfq Scores Beteen Groups Are Due to Real Differences In Depressive Sympts Rather Than Differences In Reporting.