2023-08-26 04:00:53
This text is part of the Back to School special booklet
Unlike boys, teenage girls are more likely to experience momentary anxiety when the girls in their class are anxious. Fortunately, there is no reason to panic and simple strategies exist to limit this contagion.
Influenced Canadian teens spend more than 900 hours a year with their classmates. If many are anxious, will this spread to others? This is what Sandrine Charbonneau wanted to know. She carried out her master’s project on the subject, at the Research Center of the University Institute in Mental Health of Montreal, under the supervision of Sonia Lupien, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Montreal.
She found that teenage girls surrounded by girls with an anxious trait are more likely to fall into an anxious state. However, this is not the case with boys. These results, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, were obtained using data from Audrey-Ann Journault, who carried out her doctorate on the nature of anxiety experienced by young people at school. and on the elements that can contribute to it.
What is anxiety?
To better understand the results, one must first understand what anxiety is. “Anxiety arises when the brain detects a threat in the environment, such as a competition, an exam or a romantic date, which will require energy, where we will need to perform,” explains Sandrine Charbonneau. The anxious state is when we anticipate this threat. For example, the day before the event, we have a stomach ache, we have sweaty palms, we breathe more quickly, we have difficulty falling asleep, etc. »
By way of comparison, the stress is not in the anticipation, it is in the present moment. When a person faces a threat, such as an exam, stress will act on their body to give them the energy, alertness and attention needed to respond to it.
Some people are more prone to experience anxiety than others: they have an anxious personality trait. “These people are like hyperdetectors of threats, explains Sandrine Charbonneau. For example, a teenager starting secondary school will anticipate several things: make the bus trip, find her locker, meet her new teachers, but also the other students. »
She stresses that while anxiety gets a bad rap, it shouldn’t be demonized. “When a teenager is in an anxious state the day before the start of the school year, it is a sign that this event is important for him or her. Everyone experiences anxiety, it’s a normal response to a threat, as long as the level of intensity is moderate and it’s not experienced every day. »
When the anxious trait generates the anxious state
To find out about the effects of the anxiety trait in adolescent girls, Sandrine Charbonneau collected data from questionnaires completed by more than 1,400 girls and boys in grades 5 and 6 in six elementary schools and secondary 4 and 5 in seven schools in the Center de services Affluents School, on the North Shore in the Montreal area.
She found that if, from year to year, the average trait anxiety of girls in a class increases by five points on a scale of 10, the individual level of state anxiety of a daughter increases by two points. Among boys, it only increases by 0.3 points. And this, at the primary as well as at the secondary level.
Why this difference?
“We don’t know yet, but an interesting hypothesis is ‘co-rumination’, says Sandrine Charbonneau. Teenage girls tend to talk a lot about their problems with their friends. It’s okay to confide in order to feel supported, but always bringing your attention back to negative things is associated with the development of more anxiety symptoms. Research shows that teenage boys are less likely to co-ruminate than teenage girls. »
As a possible solution, she suggests that the girls end their discussions by putting forward strategies. “For example, if a test makes them anxious, they could schedule a study session together. »
She also points out that anxiety can be reduced by acting on the threat, as we do for stress. “A situation is threatening when you have little control over it, it’s unpredictable, new, and it threatens the ego,” she explains. So, to reduce the effect of the novelty of a first day of school, we could make the bus trip before the start of the school year. Then, moving, singing, laughing and breathing well are good tips for managing stress. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.
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