Problems soaring among teenagers

Teenagers are now far more likely to suffer behavioural problems and depression than 25 years ago, a disturbing new report has found.

The mental health of young people has declined sharply and the rate of emotional problems such as anxiety and depression has increased by 70 per cent among adolescents.

According to the biggest study of its kind conducted in Britain, the chances that 15-year-olds will have behavioural problems such as lying, stealing and being disobedient have more than doubled.

The study, Time Trends in Adolescent Mental Health, found boys are more likely to suffer behavioural problems and girls more likely to experience emotional problems.

However, the study, to be published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in November, found no increase in fighting, bullying or other aggressive behaviour. The research, carried out by the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and the University of Manchester, looked at three generations of 15-year-olds, in 1974, 1986 and 1999. Behavioural problems increased over the entire period while emotional problems were stable until 1986, after which they increased dramatically.

The researchers say the rise in divorce and single parenting cannot solely be to blame as they found comparable increases in all types of family - although there is a higher rate of problems in single-parent families.

There is speculation the decline may be linked to Britain's education system, with its growing emphasis on academic achievement at the expense of practical or vocational skills and outdoor activities.

In the study parents were asked to rate their children on a list of items which included fighting, bullying, stealing, lying, disobedience, fidgeting, misery, worries and fear of new situations. The UK compares badly with the US, where a comparable decline in mental health tailed off in the Nineties, while in Holland there was no decline at all.

Sharon Witherspoon, deputy director of the Nuffield Foundation, which funded the research, said: "This is not a trend which is being driven by a small number of kids who are getting worse. It is not a small tail pulling down the average, but a more widespread malaise."

The findings precede two government initiatives - the Tomlinson report on education for 14 to 19-yearolds and the Green Paper on youth - both of which are intended to respond to mounting concern about the behaviour of young people.

Ms Witherspoon said the way secondary-education is organised in Britain may be partly to blame. Britain has one of the lowest rates of youngsters staying in education past 16 and there is less emphasis on vocational training.

She said: "In the US 80-85 per cent of kids get a high school diploma. At the same time high schools have a big range of after-school activities. Part of the role of the school is the kind of socialisation that those activities generate."

Other experts have identified the reduction in employment opportunities as a factor. Ann Hagell, editor of the Journal of Adolescence, said: "We have high expectations of independence for our teenagers without giving them the means to achieve that."