Increase in antisocial behaviour among teenage girls driven by mental health issues — report

Antisocial behaviour includes taking something from home, school or a shop without permission, graffiti, not paying the correct bus or train fare, behaving badly in public, and hitting, kicking or punching someone.

Violent and non-violent antisocial behaviour among girls has increased in recent years, with mental health issues a factor in the rise, a new study has found.

The latest Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) findings show the proportion of 13-year-old girls who reported hitting, punching or kicking someone in the previous year rose from 10% to 16% over a decade.

The study said this pattern appeared to relate to “greater mental health difficulties among girls, in terms of depression, hearing voices, and externalising behaviour”.

Antisocial behaviour includes taking something from home, school or a shop without permission, graffiti, not paying the correct bus or train fare, behaving badly in public, and hitting, kicking or punching someone.

About a fifth of 13-year-olds reported taking something from home without permission in the previous year, while about one in 10 reported paying the incorrect bus or train fare, behaving badly in public or taking something from school, the ESRI said.

A fifth also reported hitting, punching or kicking another person.

The study found rates of antisocial behaviour did not vary by parental education, family social class, or experience of financial strain.

However, levels tended to be higher among young people from lone-parent families, those with more older siblings and those who experienced more conflict with their mother.

Living in a city or a disorderly neighbourhood was also linked to both violent and non-violent antisocial behaviour.

The ESRI identified exposure to adverse childhood experiences between the ages of 13 and 17 — such as bereavement, separation or family mental health issues — as the strongest driver of increasing antisocial behaviour.

A significant minority of young people reported contact with the justice system, with more than a fifth saying they had been stopped and questioned by police between the ages of 17 and 20.

Those involved in antisocial behaviour at 13 were more likely to come into early contact with the criminal justice system, the study found.

Antisocial behaviour between the ages of 13 and 17 was also linked to lower Leaving Certificate grades, and a much lower likelihood of obtaining a degree by 25.

The report added young people who had early contact with the justice system received lower Leaving Certificate grades, even where their antisocial behaviour had declined since age 13.