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Stress, suicide attempts and social media use.

All three are on the rise in Wisconsin girls, according to a new report released Tuesday that — while careful not to be alarmist — nevertheless identifies several nagging concerns that don't seem to be improving.

And while the report highlights areas where progress has been made, it notes that the picture can change when that data is broken out for minorities, or compared with boys, or compared with the rest of the United States. It also stresses that "persistent, troubling patterns" can be found anywhere.

"It's not localized; it's not just in the larger cities," said Margaret Henningsen, executive director of the Women's Fund of Greater Milwaukee. "These issues are statewide."

"The Status of Girls in Wisconsin 2014" was produced by the Research Center for Women and Girls at Alverno College, in partnership with Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast. A host of other community organizations, such as the Women's Fund, also collaborated on the report.

This is the third edition of the study, so trends are now becoming apparent. The first version was done in 2007; the second in 2010.

The intent is to give educators, policy-makers, girl-serving agencies and community groups a comprehensive picture of where girls age 10-19 are at — economically, demographically, socially — using multiple data sources. The report covers everything from how girls are doing in school to how they feel about themselves to what they do in their free time.

Some of the basic data is particularly sobering: More than 114,000 girls age 17 and younger live at or below the poverty line, and 17% have "food insecurity," meaning they or their family are not sure they will have enough food.

Several broader themes emerge:

■Persistent patterns.

In the seven years since the first edition of the study, more than one-third of high school girls continued to report symptoms of depression.

"We saw it in 2007 and we still see it now," said Rhonda Ware, executive director of the Research Center at Alverno.

Research has shown that girls report similar rates of depression as boys until age 15, when girls become twice as likely to experience a major depressive episode, Ware said.

Another standstill: More girls tested into the advanced level of the WKCE in reading and language arts than boys, and more girls tested proficient or advanced in social studies. But in math and science, boys scored into the advanced level in every age group — and the gap seems to widen with age.

The disparity exists not only by gender but also by race. White girls outperform African-American and Hispanic girls in all subjects of the WKCE exam.

"If these numbers are staying the same, what can we do as a community to shift that?" Ware asked.

■Some steps toward improvement.

Girls continue to report smoking at lower rates than boys, and both groups' smoking habits have dropped. Studies attribute this to an increased federal tax on tobacco products, implementation of smoke-free policies in public spaces and shifting adolescent attitudes toward smoking.

The report notes that nationwide, the teenage birthrate has declined steadily over the past 20 years, with 2012 marking the lowest rate since 1945. In Wisconsin, the birthrate declined 6% from 2011 to 2012. Further, the state rate is 26% lower than the national rate.

However, within that improvement is one of those persistent negative patterns. Minority teen birthrates in Wisconsin continue to be dramatically higher than white rates. The African-American teen birthrate, for example, is more than four times larger than the white rate; the Hispanic rate was almost three times larger.

■Internet concerns.

Not surprisingly, more adolescents are using the Internet for social engagement than ever before, according to the report. Facebook remains the most popular platform, Twitter is second but far behind.

Using social media isn't necessarily a bad thing, said Denisha Tate, chief operating officer for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, another of the collaborators on the report. Social media provides girls with new platforms for reaching out. Nine out of 10 teenagers post photos of themselves.

But there are some strings attached.

Only a small percentage of boys and girls have engaged in sexting, but the report notes statistics showing girls seem to be at a higher risk. Further, more than a quarter of girls younger than 15 report being victims of cyberbullying, a much higher rate than boys.

On a related note, the percentage of girls who endorse playing video games or using the Internet for nonacademic purposes for three or more hours per day jumped from about 14% in 2009 to about 35% in 2013.

■Body image imbalance.

The report said 7 in 10 girls nationwide said they "believe they are not good enough in some way," whether it was their appearance, their performance or their relationships. In Wisconsin, more than twice as many girls as boys — 60% to 27% — were attempting to lose weight, even though only 14% of girls actually met the classification of being overweight.

Perhaps more striking was the connection between self-esteem and self-harm. In Wisconsin, girls were two-and-a-half times as likely to be hospitalized because of self-harming behavior, the report said.

■Preparing for college.

A higher percentage of girls reported planning to attend college than boys.

"This shows a concerted effort by organizations serving girls to include college and career prep as part of their program," Tate said.

But boys have the upper hand when it comes to how they perform in college preparation courses.

Nearly 32,000 girls registered for Advanced Placement courses in Wisconsin, compared with about 24,000 boys. But the percentage of boys passing their AP exams is double that of girls.