(Mybrotha.COM) - Men who raise daughters know about headaches. Some fathers have even mentioned those headaches being much bigger than those felt when raising sons. Fathers naturally worry about their daughter's well-being, their emotional sensitivity and most importantly, the amount of attention they get from boys.

Black men have always been protective of their daughter's interactions with boys. What you may not know is, girls are putting lots of pressure on themselves to measure up to other girls. Whether it's hair, makeup, body image, or attention, a girls' world is full of brain-racking stresses.

What is going on in teenagers' brains as their drive for peer approval begins to eclipse their family affiliations? Brain scans of teens sizing each other up reveal an emotion circuit activating more in girls as they grow older, but not in boys. The study by Daniel Pine, M.D., of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of National Institutes of Health, and colleagues, shows how emotion circuitry diverges in the male and female brain during a developmental stage in which girls are at increased risk for developing mood and anxiety disorders.

"During this time of heightened sensitivity to interpersonal stress and peers' perceptions, girls are becoming increasingly preoccupied with how individual peers view them, while boys tend to become more focused on their status within group pecking orders," explained Pine.

In the study, the prospect of interacting with peers activated brain circuitry involved in approaching others, rather than circuitry responsible for withdrawal and fear. This means that girls are more concerned about other girls perceptions of them and less concerned about withdrawing from the crowd.

Girls definitely need their mothers for those "female" talks and lessons, but fathers should be more aware of how important peer pressure amongst girls can be. Pre-teen and teenage girls compete with each other on a physical and social level, and their interactions with peers help shape self-image, self-confidence and personality.

The study went on to say: "In females, absence of activation in areas associated with mood and anxiety disorders, such as the amygdala, suggests that emotional responses to peers may be driven more by a brain network related to approach than to one related to fear and withdrawal," said Pine. "This reflects resilience to psychosocial stress among healthy female adolescents during this vulnerable period."

For many fathers, this is a sobering topic. Their daughters have, or will have daily interaction with peers which may thrust them into tough social situations where they desire acceptance.

As dads across the world have learned, this may not be a problem you can fix. However, being there when your little girl needs a shoulder to cry on may be all she needs.

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