Teenage girls are facing impossible expectations

By Rachel Simmons

Updated 2237 GMT (0637 HKT) February 27, 2018

Researchers at <a href="http://www.bmap.ucla.edu/" target="_blank">UCLA's Brain Mapping Center</a> found that when teenagers' photos get lots of "likes" on social media apps, such as Instagram, their brains respond in a similar way to seeing loved ones or winning money.
Photos: How social media affects the teenage brain
Researchers at UCLA's Brain Mapping Center found that when teenagers' photos get lots of "likes" on social media apps, such as Instagram, their brains respond in a similar way to seeing loved ones or winning money.
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Thirty-two teenagers took part in the experiment, with brain scans showing how their nucleus accumbens -- the part of their brain linked to rewards -- became especially active.
Photos: How social media affects the teenage brain
Thirty-two teenagers took part in the experiment, with brain scans showing how their nucleus accumbens -- the part of their brain linked to rewards -- became especially active.
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Being appreciated on social media, through "likes," was seen in brain scans to activate the reward centers of the brain, pictured.
Photos: How social media affects the teenage brain
Being appreciated on social media, through "likes," was seen in brain scans to activate the reward centers of the brain, pictured.
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Reward circuitry is thought to be particularly sensitive during adolescence, which may partly explain why teenagers are such avid social media users.
Photos: How social media affects the teenage brain
Reward circuitry is thought to be particularly sensitive during adolescence, which may partly explain why teenagers are such avid social media users.
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The teenagers were shown a bespoke version of Instagram during the experiment where the "likes" they saw weren't given by their peers, but instead assigned by the research team.<br />
Photos: How social media affects the teenage brain
The teenagers were shown a bespoke version of Instagram during the experiment where the "likes" they saw weren't given by their peers, but instead assigned by the research team.
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The teens were shown "neutral" photos showing things like food and friends, and "risky" photos depicting cigarettes and alcohol, pictured. The study found that teens were more likely to "like" popular photos, regardless of the type of image.
Photos: How social media affects the teenage brain
The teens were shown "neutral" photos showing things like food and friends, and "risky" photos depicting cigarettes and alcohol, pictured. The study found that teens were more likely to "like" popular photos, regardless of the type of image.
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While social media has the potential to influence teenagers in good ways, it's important for parents to be aware of who their teens are interacting with online, says Lauren Sherman, lead author of the study.
Photos: How social media affects the teenage brain
While social media has the potential to influence teenagers in good ways, it's important for parents to be aware of who their teens are interacting with online, says Lauren Sherman, lead author of the study.
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Rachel Simmons is the author of "Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Happy, Healthy, Fulfilling Lives." Follow her on Twitter @racheljsimmons. The views expressed in this commentary are her own.

(CNN)At a moment when girls enjoy historic opportunity -- watching Chloe Kim and Mikaela Shiffrin soar to gold, and Oprah preach girl power from the Golden Globes stage -- teen girls tell researchers they are twice as depressed, anxious and stressed out as boys. And though girls beat out boys in college and graduate school admissions, according to a University of California-Los Angeles study, female college freshmen have never been lonelier or less happy.

In the so-called age of girl power, we have failed to cut loose our most regressive standards of female success -- like pleasing others and looking sexy -- and to replace them with something more progressive -- like valuing intelligence and hard work. Instead, we have shoveled more and more expectation onto the already robust pile of qualities we expect girls to possess.
Rachel Simmons
Rachel Simmons
And social media -- where, according to Pew Research, girls tend to dominate, using visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat in far greater numbers than boys -- isn't helping the matter. The pressure to get at least one like per minute on Instagram and keep up scores of daily Snapchat "streaks" is unending.