Newsweek Features The 2023 Girls’ Index
Oct 17, 2023 at 3:45 PM EDT
By Suzanne Blake
Preteen girls' rates of depression are skyrocketing as social media use spikes among the younger generation, according to the most in-depth U.S. survey intended to examine the challenges facing girls in grades five through 12.
Girls as young as 10 are experiencing significant declines in self-confidence as they consume social media at unprecedented rates, according to The Girls' Index 2023 report, conducted by the nonprofit Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX) and based on survey results from more than 17,000 girls.
While only 5 percent of fifth- and sixth-grade girls reported feeling sad or depressed every day in 2017, which was the first year of the survey, that number tripled to 15 percent in 2023.
This decline in happiness occurs as less preteen girls describe themselves as confident, dipping from 86 percent to 68 percent during the same six-year span.
Young girls are also experiencing fears about the future, with 52 percent indicating they are not sure if they're smart enough for their dream career, up from 23 percent in 2017.
All of the mental health concerns pointed out in the survey come alongside a significant uptick in social media use by the generation. A whopping 95 percent of fifth-grade girls reported using social media this year, and 46 percent spend six or more hours per day.
"While we knew that the world had become more challenging for teen girls over the past few years, we did not expect to see the sadness and depression increase so dramatically or the confidence and self-perception to deteriorate so quickly among the youngest girls. Girls' reports of sadness and depression increased in every grade, however, the rates of daily sadness tripled for fifth- and sixth-grade girls," said Lisa Hinkelman, Ph.D., the principal investigator of The Girls' Index and CEO of ROX.
"The youngest girls are now reporting the levels of stress, self-doubt, sadness and insecurity that have typically been reported by much older teens."
Experts say the heightened rates of depression signal several factors that might be leading to the decline in girls' mental health.
"The well-known fact that girls are starting puberty at younger ages, coupled with the findings in this new report, challenge us to pinpoint the multiple contributors to these troubling outcomes for tween girls," Hinkelman said.
Parents have long been warned about the risks of social media use in teenagers, with many mental health professionals saying the incidents of bullying and unrealistic views of others' lives can prove challenging, especially for those under age 18.
Previous studies have also linked high rates of social media use to depression or anxiety symptoms.
A 2013 study found older adolescents who used social media passively reported declines in life satisfaction, although the study spanned less than 100 individuals. College students who spent more time on Facebook believed more strongly that peers were leading happier lives.
The boost in mental health problems may also be associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced younger generations to live through an unprecedented event and experience social isolation.
A 2021 study by researchers at the University of Calgary based on responses from more than 80,000 children and adolescents found that one in four youths showed symptoms of depression, which was double the global rate before the pandemic.