Parents, Take Note: Survey Shows Teens Need More Support Than They Get

Follow Drugslib on

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, July 16, 2024 -- As millions of American teens continue to struggle with their mental health, a new survey reveals a sizable gap between how much support teens say they get and how much support their parents think they are getting.

In the report, published Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics, just over a quarter of teens said they always get the social and emotional support they need while parents were nearly three times more likely to think they did.

“This suggests a systematic bias where parents consistently report higher levels of social and emotional support compared with their teenager’s perception, and in doing so may underestimate their teenager’s perceived need for social and emotional support,” the study authors wrote.

Experts believe the need among teens can't be underestimated.

“The relationship that adolescents have with their parents is central to life for almost all of them. They’re growing up, but they’re still children in many ways,” Dr. Jeffrey Arnett, a developmental psychologist and senior research scholar at Clark University in Massachusetts, told CNN.

There may also be a disconnect between the support parents think they’re offering and the type that their teenage children actually need, Lisa Damour, a psychologist who co-hosts a parenting podcast, told CNN.

A parent’s first instinct is often to provide advice or guidance, while teens tend to just want empathy and reassurance, she noted.

“When teenagers come to adults with concerns, I think above everything else, what they’re looking for is for the adult to serve as a steady presence to maintain perspective about what’s happening and help the teenager gain a sense of perspective,” Damour said. “So, when we go with our common instinct to offer advice or guidance or ask questions, I think sometimes that feels to teenagers like we are confirming that the problem is every bit as bad as it feels to them, and it doesn’t have the intended effect.”

The findings were based on nationally representative surveys of nearly 1,200 children ages 12 to 17 and their parents, conducted in 2021 and 2022.

Overall, 93% of parents thought their children always or usually had the social and emotional support they need, but only about 59% of teens felt that was true. Instead, 20% of teens said that they rarely or never had the support they need, compared with only about 3% of parents who thought the same.

Even more troubling, teens who didn't feel they always or usually had the support they need were significantly more likely to report poor health problems than those who did feel supported.

Depression and anxiety were nearly three times more common among teenagers who did not feel emotionally supported than among those who did; nearly a third of those who did not feel supported reported symptoms, according to the new study.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of teens who did not feel supported said they got poor sleep, compared with about a third of those who did feel supported. And nearly 14% of teens who did not feel supported said that they had poor health or low life satisfaction, compared with less than 5% of those who did feel supported.

Race and gender also played a role: Less than half of Black teens (42%) and LGBTQ+ teens (44%) said they always or usually had the social and emotional support they need, while their parents perceived this to be the case more than twice as often.

Teenage girls were less likely than boys to say they always or usually had the support they need, and there was a larger gap in perception of support between teen girls and their parents.

The U.S. surgeon general has emphasized the importance of protecting the mental health of youth, most recently calling for a warning label to be put on social media platforms.

“Often, supporting teenagers is as simple as being curious about what they bring our way and then offering empathy,” Damour said. “Take comfort in the knowledge that helping a teenager feel heard and understood is overwhelmingly the most useful and therapeutic thing an adult can do.”

Sources

  • NCHS data brief, July 16, 2024
  • CNN

    • Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

    Source: HealthDay

    Posted : 2024-07-16 21:15

    Read more

    Disclaimer

    Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

    The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

    Popular Keywords