Teenage girls who dress in their culture’s traditional clothing may fare better mentally and emotionally than their peers who try to assimilate, a study suggests.

The study, which followed Bangladeshi and white students in 28 London schools, found that Bangladeshi girls who dressed in traditional garb scored better on a measure of mental well-being than those who preferred a more “integrated” clothing style.

The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggest that staying connected to one’s cultural identity — at least as reflected through dress — may be good for some young people’s mental health.

A Bangladeshi girl has a design painted on her hand with henna. Teenage girls who dress in their culture’s traditional clothing may fare better mentally and emotionally than their peers who try to assimilate, a study suggests.

It’s possible that sticking with tradition helps shield adolescents from the stress of trying to acculturate, explained lead researcher Professor Kamaldeep Bhui, of the Center for Psychiatry at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

The situation is not black-and-white, however. Bhui’s team found that for Bangladeshi boys, dressing in a more assimilated manner was related to better mental health.

Exactly why this is, is not clear. But, Bhui told Reuters Health that women often have the role of “culture bearer,” especially in cultures where men have more freedom and are outside of the home more, interacting with different people.

It may be that, for teenage boys, dressing in a more assimilated style helps them fit in, Bhui noted.

The findings are based on 900 white and Bangladeshi students at east London schools who were interviewed in 2001 and again in 2003.

Students were between the ages of 11 and 14 during the first interview.

The researchers assessed the students’ mental health with questions about any “emotional symptoms,” problems with peers or behavioral issues they were having.

They found that girls who, at the study’s outset, preferred traditional clothing were less likely to have mental health problems two years later than girls who dressed in an assimilated style. As mentioned, the opposite was true of boys.

According to Bhui, the findings highlight a complex issue, showing that people should not be expected to be “traditional or assimilated, with nothing in between.”

The results also suggest that “we should be cautious about unthinkingly applying dress codes,” Bhui said.

Whether these findings would apply to other ethnic groups or other countries is not clear. Bhui noted that east London has a large Bangladeshi population, and white students were actually in the minority.

SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, May 2008.