As summer quickly winds down and the first day of the new school year looms, teen stress is likely to surge. For many teens, the return to school can feel overwhelming because academic, social, and college-planning pressures intensify all at once. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), American teens rate their stress at 5.8 on a 10-point scale, more than the average of 3.8 for adults. Three in four high school students consistently feel stressed about schoolwork alone.
When teens struggle, parents do too, and their strain can show up at work as stress, burnout, lower productivity, and even missed work days. Supporting the mental well-being of teens is an important part of supporting the mental well-being and productivity of employees.
Teen stress is alarmingly high and can have serious implications
Teens routinely encounter challenges across their school experience. Homework overload, social comparison, planning for college or career, and feeling pressure to excel in academics, sports, and other extracurricular activities are some of the common stressors that teens regularly face. According to the APA’s Stress in America survey, more than 8 in 10 teens feel that school and the pressure to get good grades are significant sources of stress.
Without adequate support, a teen’s stress may become chronic, with negative impacts on their cognitive function, memory, and focus/attention. Chronic stress is also associated with physical health issues, such as heart palpitations, headaches, nausea, sleep issues, and muscle tension, and emotional and behavioral symptoms, such as anger, irritability, and uncontrolled worry.
Getting support for teen stress is challenging
Unfortunately, teens often can’t get support for stress at school because the system is under-resourced and not equipped to handle the volume of students who need help. Most teens aren’t receiving special education services, and those who do might not receive the support they need from special educators stretched thin across multiple grades.
School counselors are similarly overextended, with a national average of one school counselor for every ~400 students. And as the people in the role primarily responsible for supporting the social and emotional well-being of students, school counselors often struggle with their own emotional exhaustion. What’s more, fear of stigma often keeps students from seeking school-based mental health support.
But getting mental health support outside school is also very challenging. The severe shortage of therapists and adolescent psychiatrists means families often wait several months to access support if they find it at all. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has designated most of the country a high-need shortage area.
In short, teens who need support often don’t get it, and their parents are left trying to fill the gap while managing the demands of work.
The toll on working parents and their employers
It’s not surprising that caring for a teen with chronic stress, anxiety, or other mental health challenges can take a heavy toll on the emotional and mental health of parents.
For example, working parents of a teen with mental health challenges are more likely to feel stressed, lonely, and less productive than working parents of children without mental health challenges. Heightened anxiety may cause them to lose focus at work, and appointments with educators, therapists, and doctors may force them to miss time at work.
According to a study by Nationwide Children’s Hospital,
- More than half of working parents (53%) have missed work at least once a month to address their children’s mental health,
- More than half of working parents (54%) have interrupted their work to respond to communication about their child’s behavioral health needs, and
- 30–50% of working parents’ thoughts are on their child’s mental health and well-being even while they are at work.
Employers can help by offering digital mental wellness tools for families
Digital mental‑health solutions such as Calm Health offer a way for employers to help fill critical gaps in teen support left by overextended school systems and fragmented healthcare services. Accessible via smartphone or web browser to people 13 and up in the United States, and 18 and up elsewhere, Calm Health overcomes many of the barriers that keep teens from getting timely mental and emotional health support:
- Privacy: Teens can access support for stress, anxiety, depression, and other challenges without fear of stigma.
- Convenience: An extensive library of mental wellness resources are available anytime, anywhere and fit into teens’ busy schedules.
- Evidence‑based programs: Psychologist-developed programs use principles based in cognitive behavioral therapy and other research-based tools to support teen mental well-being and help them build lifelong skills.
- Mindfulness resources: A wide variety of mindfulness resources help people of all ages rest and rebalance.
Calm Health offers The School Stress Toolkit for teens
Calm Health features an evidence-based program designed specifically to help teens deal with the pressures of school. Developed by psychologist Dr. Isaiah Pickens for Calm Health, the program helps teens understand the difference between good and bad stress, how stress is impacting them, and what they can do when feeling overwhelmed.
The nine-episode program includes the following sessions:
- When Is Stress a Problem?
- Dealing with Family Expectations
- Overcoming Comparison
- Becoming Stronger Than Your Stress
The program is supported with worksheets teens can use to help them set boundaries, manage unhelpful thoughts, and build resilience. Additional Calm Health evidence-based programs to support teens and parents include Parenting Teens with Mental Health Conditions, Parenting Teens: Growing and Changing Together, Inclusive Parenting for LGBTQ+ Youth, Taking Charge of Your Teen Anxiety, Teen Guide to Taking on Depression, and Managing ADHD Effectively as a Teen.
Offer additional support for families as teens head back to school
This back-to-school season, employers have the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of teens and their working parents. By offering evidence-based digital mental health resources, HR leaders can help teens navigate the many pressures they encounter and give parents some peace of mind so they can stay focused at work.
