Coming from a poor family is more likely to affect the mental health and wellbeing of teenage girls than boys, UK research suggests.
Initial findings from a major study indicate girls from homes with lower family income are more likely to report poorer mental health and lower wellbeing than their better-off peers in their mid-teens.
Meanwhile family income does not appear to be a "significant factor" in predicting boys' mental health or wellbeing at the same age.
The difference emerged from analysis of a survey carried out for the Millennium Cohort Study, which has been following the lives of nearly 20,000 children born in the UK at the start of the century.
It also found girls were 16 per cent more likely than boys to develop symptoms of mental ill-health by age 14.
"With this research providing evidence to reveal a stark divide between the mental health and wellbeing of boys and girls at age 14, policymakers must identify the differing needs and pressures experienced by boys and girls in early adolescence," the researchers said.
Bullying, being overweight and not getting along with peers were associated with high symptom of depression in both boys and girls at age 14.
The study also found girls who had a happy time at primary school and engaged with their lessons were less likely to have higher depressive symptoms at that age.
