Adolescence is a period that involves huge physical and emotional changes. This means that this timeframe is also a large risk period for the manifestation of social-emotional disorders, particularly for girls. 

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Anxiety disorders, which are thought to be the most prevalent of all psychiatric disorders, typically have an onset within childhood or adolescence. In the current psychology and neuroscience literature, we know that there is a relationship between pubertal timing and social anxiety. But evidently, there are a lot of moving pieces in this age group, which means there are a lot of different factors at play. It has been found that factors including appearance comparison, self-esteem, and interpretation bias are important in this timeline.

At present, there is a gap in our knowledge of how factors such as body image, self esteem and social media usage influence this relationship. Beginning to fill these gaps in the literature can help us to work towards better preventative measures, treatments and educational programs to help our girls as they grow. 

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This survey is an Australian survey-based study of girls aged 11-16 that looks to fill these gaps and work towards improved mental health outcomes for adolescent girls.

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