In the News: Breaking up is hard to do… for girls
This article discusses a recent paper in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour indicating that when romantic relationships diverge from what they want or expect, the mental health of adolescent girls is affected much than that of their male counterparts. The author of this report, Brian Soller, said in an interview this week that “boys… basically feel no mental-health wear and tear from a failed relationship.” He postulated that the reason for this discrepancy is that girls are socialized from a young age to focus on interpersonal relationships, which becomes a significant part of their self-identities. In his paper, Soller advises parents, educators, and policy-makers to think about ways in which they can help girls to build identities around things other than romantic relationships.
