Malta has one of the highest rates in Europe and North America of girls who report feeling pressured by schoolwork.
Just over 60 per cent of girls aged 13 say they experience schoolwork-related stress, more than in any other country. The figures are also high for schoolgirls aged 11 (43 per cent; fifth out of 41 countries surveyed) and those aged 15 (69 per cent; fourth highest).
In the last of a series of articles on the Health Behaviour of School-Aged Children Study (HBSC), The Times looks into the social context of schoolchildren aged 11, 13 and 15.
A sample of 1,500 students was randomly picked from each age group for the study that was conducted in 2006, with Marianne Massa, from the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department, being the principal investigator for the local study.
The findings indicate that girls aged 15 tend to feel the greatest pressure in most of the countries surveyed.
Geographical patterns indicated that western European young people are the least likely to report feeling pressured by schoolwork to some or a high degree. Germany, France and Austria have the lowest rates.
School-related stress has been linked with perceived academic demands from parents and teachers. This pressure has been associated with lower self-rated health and lower satisfaction with school.
Maltese 13-year-olds rank low in the list of those who "like school a lot" (26th from 41 countries) with 27 per cent of girls and just 16 per cent of boys relishing their experience at school.
Students who hate school are those who are most likely to be failing academically and are at the greatest risk of dropping out, adopting unhealthy behaviours, experiencing psychosomatic symptoms and experiencing reduced quality of life, the study said.
The study also looked at the way schoolchildren communicated with their peers via electronic media, including speaking on the phone, sending text messages or online.
Malta has the third highest rate of 15-year-olds (62 per cent girls, and 61 per cent boys) who have daily electronic media contact with friends, surpassed by Lithuania and Denmark.
Maltese 13-year-olds (58 per cent girls, and 49 per cent boys) are keeping up at a very regular rate, placing fourth out of 41 countries, while 11-year-olds are lagging behind in cyber communication coming in at 21st place (30 per cent girls and 20 per cent of boys).
Girls in all age groups surpass boys in this form of communication and they are more likely to use mobile phones, while boys tend to use the internet more.
However, the intensive use of new communication technologies has been associated with lower levels of self-rated health, poorer sleep habits, violence and hostility, musculoskeletal problems, loneliness and social isolation, as well as increased overweight and obesity through the displacement of physical activity.
While Maltese adolescents tend to be among the top electronic communicators, they seem less enthusiastic when it comes to spending physical time with friends.
Just nine per cent of girls and 19 per cent of boys aged 11 spend four or more evenings a week out with friends (placing 29th out of 41), a figure that goes up among the 13-year-old cohort (19 per cent girls and 33 per cent boys); and stabilises at just over a quarter of 15-year-olds.
While the report notes that time spent with peers in the evenings has been strongly linked with adolescent risk behaviour, most research indicates that peer contact is important for a child's development.
Comparatively, Malta also has the lowest rate of 11-year-olds (49 per cent boys and 62 per cent girls) who have three or more close friends of the same gender, while 13-year-olds don't fare much better, coming in at fourth from last.
Friendship helps young people adjust to new situations and face stressful life experiences, and is associated with happiness.
Malta also ranks last in all the three age groups when asked if they found it easy to talk to their father, faring slightly better when it came to communicating with their mother.
Parent-child communication is one of the basic building blocks of the family as a developmental context and acts as a protective factor in adolescence.