GENDER ASPECTS OF YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS: INTERNATIONAL TRENDS AND THE EXPERIENCE OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract
The article presents a historical-humanities analysis of the evolution of scholarly perspectives on youth mental health and related gender differences amid social and digital transformations. Drawing on international research, WHO and UNICEF reports, and data from HBSC 2021–2022 and MICS Uzbekistan 2021–2022, it traces the expansion of the scientific paradigm from the clinical-psychiatric model to biopsychosocial, social-determinants, and digital approaches. The higher prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among girls and externalising behaviours among boys is explained through the interaction of biological predispositions, gendered social norms, and institutions of socialisation. Digital platforms, algorithmic personalisation, and generative artificial intelligence do not create fundamentally new patterns of psychological distress but alter the intensity and forms of existing risk factors. Uzbekistan is examined as a case in which digital modernisation coexists with the enduring influence of the family, mahalla, and extended kinship networks. The article proposes a historical-humanities periodisation of scholarly approaches and substantiates the need for gender-sensitive prevention, stronger school psychological services, and reduced regional inequalities in access to support.
Keywords
youth mental health; gender differences; digital transformation; biopsychosocial model; social determinants of health; Uzbekistan; adolescence.How to Cite
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