Britain is growing up into a nation of chronic worriers. A survey of nearly 40,000 young people aged from nine to 16 has discovered there are few things in life they don't fret about, Be it school, health, career or the way they look, a significant proportion spend their lives in a state of angst.
| There’s pressure to succeed from school, family, everyone. It just goes on, you never get a break from it. |
Teenage girls suffer the most, more than half being unhappy with their appearance, one in three stressed by school and nearly 40 per cent concerned about their families. When not worrying about parents and siblings, they are in anguish about friendship.
Anna Chandwani, 15, has a lot on her mind. There's pressure to succeed from school, family, everyone. You have to get qualifications, then money, a job. It just goes on, you never get a break from it. You have to fit in - even at school you have to have the right jacket, bag, everything.
For the past 12 years researchers at the Exeter Health Education Unit have conducted an annual survey of young people. Every year the media report their findings on drugs, sex, alcohol and cigarette use.
But Dr David Regis, one of the researchers, says this misses the more important points: It's understandable that the media concentrates on the bare figures of smoking, drinking and use of illegal drugs but you can't look at young people in just these terms. There are background factors which need to be explored.
The unit has retabulated the statistics for 1997. The new findings will be unveiled on Friday at a conference jointly sponsored by The Observer and Age Concern.
A link has become apparent between the self-esteem of children and their behaviour. Nearly 80 per cent of chronic worriers have a very poor self-image. Those with high self-esteem are less likely to worry but are much more likely to experiment with drugs than those with a low opinion of themselves.
The finding explains the failure of much health education to change the behaviour of young people. Dr Aidan MacFarlane, consultant paediatrician with the Oxfordshire Health Authority, will tell the conference that almost all health promotion by the health service to young people on smoking, drinking, drugs and safe sex is not effective.
The number of girls taking up smoking despite more than 10 years of anti-cigarette propaganda is causing great concern; Regis believes the current strategy is flawed: Having gone through our database we can now show that behaviour such as smoking, drinking and drug use is related to self-esteem and feelings of personal control.
Young people who see themselves less in control of their health are much more likely to smoke than other young people. So, there's an argument for trying to get young people to feel more confident and more in control of their lives.
Helping them gain confidence would help contain their worrying and possibly prevent the development of neurosis as they get older. The researchers have discovered that confident young people, when they worry, often discuss problems with parents, siblings, teachers or friends. But those with low self-esteem keep it buttoned up.
Many young people put their worry down to losing control over their lives.
Koiya Donovan, 12, feels under pressure to emulate her older siblings and doesn't want to let her parents down. You need qualifications to make your parents proud of you, to get a job, to get money, to support yourself. You can never stop learning, whether you are two, 15 or 45.
When I was younger I used to really envy my older brother and sister because they could do more, but then as you grow up you have responsibilities. I'm expected to follow in their footsteps.
My sister got very good A-levels and has just finished her first year at university. My brother is going to law school. I'm going to a better school than they did so Im expected to do better than them.
Even with friends when youre supposed to be yourself there are expectations. You have to spend your money on just one expensive item by Calvin Klein to be fashionable. I don't have a best friend because I think it can cause a lot of problems. I don't know if I can rely on them because they are like chameleons - they change depending on what is expected.
It's worse for the girls but lots of boys have it bad too. Peter Campbell, 17, is convinced nervous breakdowns will soon be commonplace among 13- and 14-year-olds.
What makes me really angry is people saying I have my whole life ahead of me and l don't have any cares in the world. A young person has all these possible sources of information bombarding them. That's why there will be so many breakdowns because they can't cope with all the information.
I've always had to live up to my father's expectations do what he didn't do. Sometimes my head is saying, stuff the exams, and my heart is telling me I can't.
Oliver Robertson, 16, understands what Regis and his colleagues mean when they relate worry to low self-esteem. I'm able to pull myself out of being sad. There was a time in school when I was really worried because a piece of coursework wasn't going well. I tried my hardest to think happy thoughts, and it did actually make me feel happier.
But then he worries about being too happy: It's not good to be happy all the time. You have to be sad because otherwise you wouldn't appreciate happiness."
About the team
This article was produced by Children's Express and published in The Observer.
