Survey reveals concerns of today?s girls

A new book will tackle the unanswered questions adolescent girls have.

By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff

A new survey reveals that today?s adolescent girls are more concerned with their future careers and financial responsibilities than with issues of marriage and children.

When members of an APA task force on adolescent girls asked 733 adolescent girls to write down the six questions they?d most like to ask an expert, they were surprised at the barrage of questions the girls had about how to find the right career and how to access adult mentors to help them find their way.

Other areas where girls? questions clustered?relationships with parents and siblings, sexuality and body image, emotional distress?were more in line with task force expectations. But the amount of concern girls expressed about the future suggests a stereotype-busting trend in their thinking, said psychologist Alice Rubenstein, PhD, when she presented the findings at the session, 'State of the hearts of adolescent girls?national survey results' at APA?s 1998 Annual Convention.

'Adolescents are often seen as living in the ?here and now,? but the girls in our survey had significant concerns about, ?What?s going to happen to me?? and ?Where am I going??' said Rubenstein, a private practitioner with the Monroe Psychotherapy and Consultation Center in Rochester, N.Y. 'And perhaps most significant, the girls do not appear to envision their future primarily in terms of getting married. 'Girls view themselves as looking to take care of themselves, and that?s positive,' said Rubenstein.

But it now falls to parents, professionals and educators to help the girls access their strengths and resiliency, she said. And, by publishing a new trade book, the task force plans to help. The book will furnish a range of answers to the girls? questions about their future and other anxiety-provoking issues. One section of the book will address questions the girls themselves have asked, and another will address questions from parents, educators and health professionals who work with the girls.

And in a separate effort, the task force is also producing a scholarly book, 'Beyond Appearance: A New Look at Adolescent Girls,' which reviews research on adolescent girls and suggests future research directions. Both books are slated to be published by APA next year or in 2000.

Interpreting the survey

Driving the task force?s survey was its desire to base its trade book on the real issues facing adolescent girls today, as seen from their perspective. Rather than being presumptuous about what?s on girls? minds, the group solicited girls? concerns in 'their own voices,' said Rubenstein. And with the help of APA groups such as Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools, the girls they surveyed represent a wide range of ages (from 11 to 19), geographic areas and cultural, ethnic and economic groups. Fewer than half of the girls were white.

The task force also polled 123 parents, educators and mental health professionals and 246 adolescent boys about the questions they have about adolescent girls. Karen Zager, PhD, the chair of the session and co-chair of the task force, was surprised at how strongly the boys? questions about girls, and vice versa, reflect gender stereotypes. Boys wanted to know, for example, why girls are 'moody,' and girls wanted to know why boys are 'so immature' or 'afraid to show their emotions.'

Many of the girls? questions focused on peer pressure, school problems and their need for sexual information. Surprisingly, though, almost none of the girls asked about prejudice, interracial relations or immigrant adjustment, despite the diversity of the sample. Rubenstein plans to run a separate analysis to see if girls? problems differ according to their cultural background.

To address the range of girls? questions, Zager and Rubenstein chose the 15 most frequently asked questions and categorized them as a basis for the trade book?s 14 chapters:

? Yourself: feelings, self-esteem and gender differences.

? Physical changes, physical and other disabilities, body image, sexual identity.

? Relationships with girls.

? Relationships with boys.

? Sexual feelings, relationships and problems.

? School problems and concerns.

? Work, money, responsibilities and time management.

? Relationships with parents and siblings.

? Eating disorders/overeating.

? Concerns about drugs, alcohol and smoking.

? Emotional distress: depression , anxiety and other problems.

? Concerns about your future.

? Spirituality.

? Race/ethnicity, belonging, fitting in.

Answering girls? questions

At least three experts will respond to the adolescent girls? questions, demonstrating that there isn?t one right answer, said Rubenstein.

'Girls tend not to trust their judgment, more so than boys, and if what they think doesn?t match what the expert says, then they often think they?re wrong,' said Rubenstein. 'We want them to see that even the experts have multiple perspectives.'

The task force also wants the answers to reflect the girls? diversity and developmental stages. Accordingly, a culturally diverse group of experts will gear their answers to girls of different ages and ethnic backgrounds?one answer might address an African-American girl of 13, another an American-Indian girl of 18.

For example, in chapter eight, a question posed by a 17-year-old?'Sometimes I?m really mean to my family for no reason in particular. Why do I do this?'?fetches very different responses from two experts. One response, directed to a general audience, reassures the teen-ager that 'mean' is a normal way of creating emotional distance from family members as she prepares to leave home. Another response, directed to an African-American girl, advises the girl to heed angry episodes as a sign of stress and to discuss them with family members to pinpoint their cause.

On the issue of overprotective parents, the book will advise parents that they 'have to let their kids go sometimes,' said Zager.

'We want to explain that parents can?t always prevent their kids from participating and doing things that are normal for their ages, and that they need to work out with their kids agreements and contracts that allow their kids to demonstrate a level of responsibility,' she said.

Ultimately, the task force strives to advocate for adolescent girls?to bring girls? voices to parents, professionals and even graduate training programs, said Rubenstein. 'We hope we can reassure girls that their stresses are normal and help them to access their strengths to move out into the world.'