Study: Boys more confident than girls

BOYS are more likely than girls to consider themselves good-looking and their overall confidence levels are higher, according to the most recent research on mental well-being of 11 to 15-year-olds.

The research, presented yesterday at a public health conference in University College Cork (UCC), found boys score higher than girls across a range of mental health indicators, including happiness, confidence and life satisfaction.

Boys are also less likely to experience feelings of helplessness, or to feel left out and their perception of how they look is far more positive than girls.

“Basically, a higher proportion of boys than girls consider themselves to be good-looking and their positive mental wellbeing is also higher. Similarly, positive mental wellbeing is higher among younger than older adolescents,” said researcher Kate Levin of the child and adolescent research unit at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

“The disparity increases with age — at age 11 it is less significant than at age 15.”

Ms Levin said there were numerous theories as to why boys have a more positive body image and more positive mental wellbeing than girls.

“The gender difference between boys and girls is well documented and is thought to be partly due to the timing of transitions and puberty. Very few boys go through puberty before [changing schools] whereas girls experience puberty before or during a transition. This reduces their ability to cope and puts them at risk of mental health problems,” Ms Levin said.

Girls were also more likely than boys to report multiple health complaints. It was also possible that the use of different parenting styles when dealing with boys and girls had an affect on mental wellbeing, Ms Levin said.

For boys and girls, living with both of their parents meant they were more likely to be very happy than those in other forms of living arrangements. Those who came from families with a good income were likely to be more confident than the less well off, according to the research.

Separate research presented by Prof Patrick West of Britain’s Medical Research Council’s social and public health sciences unit in Glasgow assessed the impact of personal income on a young person’s mental health.

Emphasising that the findings were preliminary, Prof West said so far there was not much evidence that income had a particularly good or bad affect on mental health. However it did appear “naughty kids were better at getting money”, and a factor in their success was “pester power” he said.

At ages 13 and 15, the findings suggested income was positively related to self esteem but also to antisocial behaviour. However, rather than personal income creating self esteem it appeared children already in possession of self esteem and/or who engaged in anti-social behaviour were more likely to secure a higher income.

“The is also some support for the anti-consumerist view that personal income and antisocialbehaviour are inextricably linked,” the research said.

Both papers were presented yesterday at the Joint Meeting of the Society of Social Medicine and the International Epidemiological Association (European Federation), held in UCC.