S’pore study shows girls a lot more anxious than boys about being judged negatively

Girls see a sharp spike in social anxiety between the ages of 8½ and 13, reaching levels significantly higher than boys by age 13, a local study has found. Led by Assoc Prof Setoh Pei Pei from NTU SSS, the study warns that unchecked anxiety can affect mental health, relationships, and academic or work performance later in life. This is the first Singapore study to track how different types of anxiety, such as separation anxiety and physical symptoms, develop as children grow into early adolescence. It involved 547 mother-child pairs under the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes project, the nation’s largest research on early life and long-term health. The team was led by Prof Setoh, with NTU research fellow Dr Germaine Tng as the main researcher.

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