Among the adolescents I see in my office, some common topics of conversation include friends, family, school and stress. Most often, the stress is connected to school, with adolescents feeling that they have too much to do in too little time, and that the stakes-getting into a good college and setting themselves up for a successful future-are very high. Among some of them, pressure from parents along with a feeling that credit is only given for high grades instead of hard work is also a theme.
The stress that teenagers feel is very real and quite pervasive. According to a 2015 study conducted by researchers at NYU which surveyed juniors at private high schools, almost half reported feeling “a great deal of stress” on a daily basis and one third stated that they were “somewhat stressed” on a daily basis. The greatest sources of stress were grades, homework and preparing for college. In fact, according to a 2014 study looking at stress levels, teenagers had a higher overall stress level than adults (5.8 versus 5.1 on a ten-point scale).
When I speak with the parents of these teenagers, they often express their own feelings of stress and worry regarding the pressures their children are under, combined with a determination to push their child to always do his or her best work. This tension in families-between competing desires for success and a greater feeling of calm-can be difficult to navigate. Parents may feel pulled between wanting to tell their child that it’s ok not to sign up for an extracurricular activity and worrying that if they don’t sign up it will affect their chances of getting into the college of their choice, or that it will send the wrong message to their child about hard work and will lead down a slippery slope of decreased effort. Adolescence can be a wonderful time of great fun and personal growth. It can also bring about many challenges and difficulties, both for the teenager and the parent, high levels of stress being one of them.
The following are some recommendations for helping your teenager effectively manage and cope with their stress levels:
Helping Your Teen Cope With Stress
Among the adolescents I see in my office, some common topics of conversation include friends, family, school and stress. Most often, the stress is connected to school, with adolescents feeling that they have too much to do in too little time, and that the stakes-getting into a good college and setting themselves up for a successful future-are very high. Among some of them, pressure from parents along with a feeling that credit is only given for high grades instead of hard work is also a theme.
The stress that teenagers feel is very real and quite pervasive. According to a 2015 study conducted by researchers at NYU which surveyed juniors at private high schools, almost half reported feeling “a great deal of stress” on a daily basis and one third stated that they were “somewhat stressed” on a daily basis. The greatest sources of stress were grades, homework and preparing for college. In fact, according to a 2014 study looking at stress levels, teenagers had a higher overall stress level than adults (5.8 versus 5.1 on a ten-point scale).
When I speak with the parents of these teenagers, they often express their own feelings of stress and worry regarding the pressures their children are under, combined with a determination to push their child to always do his or her best work. This tension in families-between competing desires for success and a greater feeling of calm-can be difficult to navigate. Parents may feel pulled between wanting to tell their child that it’s ok not to sign up for an extracurricular activity and worrying that if they don’t sign up it will affect their chances of getting into the college of their choice, or that it will send the wrong message to their child about hard work and will lead down a slippery slope of decreased effort. Adolescence can be a wonderful time of great fun and personal growth. It can also bring about many challenges and difficulties, both for the teenager and the parent, high levels of stress being one of them.
The following are some recommendations for helping your teenager effectively manage and cope with their stress levels:
