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Damaging gender stereotypes are ingrained from the age of 10. That is the conclusion of the first study to draw together data from high, middle and low-income countries across different cultures about how “tweenagers” perceive growing up as a boy or girl.

Researchers interviewed 450 children aged 10 to 14, plus a parent or guardian, from 15 countries, including Nigeria, China, the US and South Africa. They found that across all cultures, early adolescents were fitted with a “gender straitjacket” that has lifelong consequences linked to an increased risk of health problems. These are particularly perilous for girls.

“What we’ve learned is that there’s more commonality than differences in 10-year-olds across the world,” says of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and leader of the study, which is published this week in a special issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. “We were very surprised to see such universality of the myth that boys are strong, confident and leaders, while girls are weak and incompetent, who should be quiet and follow.”

One main finding showed that boys and girls are encouraged to lead separate lives in early adolescence. Parents in many cultures – particularly in low to middle-income countries – intervene at puberty to quash their child’s relationships with the opposite sex.

At this age, the world shrinks for girls, while it expands for boys, says Blum. Girls are more likely to stay close to home, while boys are given free rein to explore and experiment unsupervised.

“This is profoundly problematic, but that’s what gets played out everywhere, even in most liberal societies,” says Blum.

In many places, the pressure of these stereotypes leaves girls at higher risk of leaving school and experiencing early pregnancy and sexual violence, and encourages reckless and risky behaviour in boys.

In some countries, boys faced sanctions for attempting to defy the status quo. For instance, boys in Delhi said that they expected beatings from their parents if they associated with girls. They were taught that they wouldn’t be able to control their sexual urges, says Blum. Some boys reported that abuse of girls was “natural” because of these urges.

There were some positive findings. In Shanghai, for example, interviews revealed increasing support for girls to prize traits such as educational achievement and career development.

“Too often, we address gender norms late in adolescence when they are well established and have started to have negative impacts on health,” says Sarah Keogh at the Guttmacher Institute in New York. “This study shows that gender socialisation happens much earlier than that.”

Blum says it is possible to change stereotypes, citing altered attitudes and laws combating sexism in Europe and North America. But he says it requires the knowledge of how and when these gender myths are ingrained. Exposures to gender stereotypes start in infancy, he says, “but early adolescence may be the ideal time for interventions”.

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