“The interview portion from the beauty pageants helped me build my confidence to establish conversations on a normal basis. I was unable to talk to most people,” Cadence Hew-Len said. “I was diagnosed with severe anxiety when I was 12 years old. In Kryst’s case, she said, there was additional pressure coming from her appearances on TV. She said she believes mental health issues do not necessarily stem from beauty pageants. Hew-Len’s sister, Cadence Hew-Len, is part of the 2021-2022 Miss Spanish Fork royalty as a second attendant. “We put her on a pedestal, which can feel like a lot of pressure.”

“I think people just assumed that because she was successful, she was happy,” Sorensen said. Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen 2020-2021 Charlee Sorensen knew Kryst and commented on how impressions can be deceiving. “I wish she had known how big of an influence she had on girls like me.” “I was extremely sad, she was an amazing person and one of my biggest role models,” said Miss Spanish Fork’s Outstanding Teen Dakodah Hew-Len. This connection between child beauty pageants and mental health disorders recently became a topic of discussion again after Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst committed suicide in January.ĭays after Kryst’s death, her mother said the former Miss USA suffered from depression, which she hid from everyone. According to the research from West Virginia University, they also present a highly competitive atmosphere that could trigger comparisons, body disconformity, anxiety and other mental disorders. 26 when Miss Alpine’s Outstanding Teen Jocelyn Osmond was crowned as the new 2022 Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo.įor many of the girls, this competition was the result of many months of fundraising, rehearsing their talent, improving their interview skills and perfecting and acting upon their social impact initiative.īeauty pageants are commonly seen as a showcase of vanity and shallowness, and a stressor for the participants. The competition lasted three days, ending on Feb.

(Andrea Zapata)įemale contestants in Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen competition reflected on how participation in beauty pageants helped them during their mental health journey, a result contrary to some studies and popular belief.

This year’s contestants reflected on how participating in beauty pageants has helped them with their mental health, contrary to popular belief. Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen 20, Charlee Sorensen, introduces the Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen 2022 competition at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo.

Nudism girl young teen pageant