The Rise in Teen Anxiety

By Madeline Verdesca, MA

Do you or someone you know struggle with anxiety? The number of teens struggling with anxiety has been steadily on the rise for some time, but we are now seeing anxiety in teens and adolescents in numbers that “are double [those] of prepandemic estimates” (Racine et al., 2021). As of 2021, it’s likely that one in five youth experiences clinically significant anxiety (Racine et al., 2021). These numbers are worth serious consideration.

Why do we see anxiety in teens climbing so fast? Research suggests that some of the main factors include pressures based on achievement, technology and social media, and the increasingly tense climate of world events. 

Over time, the belief that a college degree is necessary for success has grown more and more. While America has more recently started to lose its faith in college degrees guaranteeing them the American Dream (Tough, 2023), this belief has grown so powerful that it has had a lasting effect on the American school system–and therefore our younger generations. While implemented with good intentions, standardized testing often directly impacts school funding and graduation, which “can place undue stress on students and affect their performance” (American University School of Education, 2020). This puts more pressure on young people than ever before to achieve at high levels, knowing that the consequences of not measuring up can affect the rest of their future. 

With advancements in technology, many teens spend most of their day looking at screens whether they are in class, completing homework, or relaxing in their free time. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that children from the ages of 8-12 had an average of 4-6 hours of daily screen time, while teens had an average of up to 9 hours of daily screen time. The Yale School of Medicine reported in 2023 that increased screen time was directly linked to higher levels of “internalizing problems”, and that “internalizing problems include depression, anxiety, social anxiety, somatic complaints, and other concerns”. 

Filmmaker, comedian, and musician, Bo Burnham, known for sharing his thoughts about the impact the internet has had on the human psyche, shared in an interview that, “My impulse really was that the more I engaged with the internet, the less authority I felt I had over it… How is [the internet] interfacing with our hearts? …We just need to take emotional inventory. Because I don’t think we’ve even begun to describe what the internet is, let alone be able to talk about it” (Noah & Burnham, 2018). 

Social media is one major way our teens connect to the greater world, and with the instant global access we have at our fingertips, the tragedies roll by like we used to scroll through a rolodex. Tragedies that directly impact our teens such as school shootings, and those on the other side of the world like major political conflicts, only add to the stress of our young people: and there is so little they are able to do about any of it. Anxiety feeds on uncertainty and our perceived lack of control (Gallagher et al., 2014). 

The good news is, if you or someone you love struggles with anxiety, there is hope. Anxiety has been shown to be very treatable. 

First, get to know the signs to spot anxiety, so you can quickly stop it in its tracks, or even prevent it from taking root in the first place. Anxiety looks like uncontrollable worry, fear, or hyperarousal (physically heightened stress, or persistent fight-or-flight response). Someone who struggles with clinically significant anxiety might feel restless and on edge, easily tired and fatigued, have difficulty concentrating, often lose their train of thought, be more irritable, experience muscle tension, and/or have difficulty falling or staying asleep most of the days of the week (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). 

Next, ensure you are fostering an environment of open and honest communication, which can counteract the stress of internal or outside pressures. To do this, reward your child’s honesty, and support their expression of feelings. Set up a consistent structure of expectations and appropriate consequences, and discuss these with your teen as early as possible. Find a way that works for your family to reward honesty while honoring the structure of appropriate consequences. This way, all parties are aware of the expectations and the best path to meeting these expectations ahead of time. Make sure our teen knows that honesty is the easiest road back to you. 

Talk about social media use. Teens who cut their social media use by 50%, even just for a few weeks, felt significantly better about both their weight and their overall appearance (American Psychological Association, 2023). 

Don’t forget to consult your pediatrician or medical health professional to ask about ways to support health and well being, and explore any possible medical sources for anxiety.

More good news: anxiety is treatable! In a study that examined the efficacy of treatments for anxiety, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was shown to improve anxiety symptoms for almost 60% of participants, and when combined with medication, over 80% of participants experienced relief from anxiety (Walkup et al., 2008). 

Remember: no matter how bad it may seem, and how long you or your loved one may have been struggling with anxiety, there is hope out there for healing. 

References

Aacap. (2020, February). Facts for Families: Screen Time and Children. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Watching-TV-054.aspx

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 

(5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

American Psychological Association. (2023, February 23). Reducing social media use 

significantly improves body image in teens, young adults [Press release]. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/02/social-media-body-image

American University. (2020, July 2). Effects of Standardized Testing on Students & Teachers: 

Key Benefits & Challenges. School of Education. Retrieved 2024, from https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/effects-of-standardized-testing/#:~:text=Standardized%20test%20scores%20are%20often,academic%20proficiency%20in%20different%20ways.

Gallagher, M.W., Bentley, K.H. & Barlow, D.H. Perceived Control and Vulnerability to Anxiety 

Disorders: A Meta-analytic Review. Cogn Ther Res 38, 571–584 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9624-x

Gardner, C. (2023, March 21). Study Probes Connection Between Excessive Screen Media 

Activity and Mental Health Problems in Youth. Yale School of Medicine. https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/yale-study-probes-connection-between-excessive-screen-media-activity-and-mental-health-problems-in-youth/

Noah, T., & Burnham, B. (2018, August 1). Bo Burnham - How Everyone Can Relate to Middle 

School Girls in “Eighth Grade” | The Daily Show. Youtube.com. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e87W11Enh0

Racine, N., McArthur, B. A., Cooke, J. E., Eirich, R., Zhu, J., & Madigan, S. (2021). Global 

prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents during COVID-19. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(11), 1142–1150. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482

Tough, P. (2023, September 5). Americans are losing faith in the value of college. whose fault is 

that? New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/05/magazine/college-worth-price.html#:~:text=The%20percentage%20of%20young%20adults,of%20confidence%20in%20higher%20education

Walkup, J. T., Albano, A. M., Piacentini, J., Birmaher, B., Compton, S. N., Sherrill, J. T., 

Ginsburg, G. S., Rynn, M. A., McCracken, J., Waslick, B., Iyengar, S., March, J. S., & Kendall, P. C. (2008). Cognitive behavioral therapy, sertraline, or a combination in childhood anxiety. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(26), 2753–2766. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa0804633