Under Pressure

An urgently needed guide to the alarming rate of psychological stress experienced by girls from age ten through college, from the New York Times bestselling author of Untangled.

Though anxiety has risen among young people overall, recent research studies confirm that it has skyrocketed in girls. According to research studies, since the turn of the millennium, a staggering 31% of girls reported feeling anxious, compared to 12% recorded in the 1980s. In a similar vein, the number of girls found to be emotionally fragile jumped 55% from 2009 to 2014 while the comparable number for adolescent boys remained unchanged over the same time period. As a clinical psychologist who specializes in girls, Lisa Damour, Ph. D., has watched this rising tide of anxiety in her own research, private practice, and in the all-girls' school where she consults, and knew this had to be the topic of her next book.

In the same engaging, anecdotal style and reassuring tone that won over thousands of readers of her first book, Untangled, Damour starts by examining the science of stress and anxiety, then turns to the many facets of girls' lives where stress hits them hard: the parental pressures they face at home, pressures at school, social anxiety among other girls and among boys, and on social media. As readers move through layers of girls' lives, they learn the critical steps we can take to shield our daughters from the toxic stress that our culture--including we, their parents--subjects them to. Readers who know Damour from Untangled or the New York Times or from her regular appearances on CBS News will be drawn to this important new contribution to understanding and supporting today's girls.