Coping with anxiety: what can families do?

Anxiety in adolescents can lead to difficulty concentrating and affect their ability to maintain academic performance; it can also interfere with relationships with friends. Sometimes, anxious adolescents even avoid social interaction altogether. Furthermore, persistent anxiety can be associated with headaches or other aches and pains, fatigue, and difficulty sleeping at night. All of this can negatively impact an adolescent's well-being and affect their quality of life.

We must be alert to the signs of distress in young people so we can help them manage and cope appropriately with the situations and events causing them pain. Often, those close to them—guardians, parents, or even their peer group—can detect the young person's emerging distress, and we can mobilize a range of resources to help them. In other cases, assessment and intervention by clinical psychologists will be necessary.

How can I improve communication with my teenage son?

Read more

The psychological intervention will aim to reduce and act preventively on modifiable risk factors, as well as enhance all the protective factors described above.

Strategies for parents to help their teenage children

1. Education and prevention: building a family environment that fosters emotional expression and secure attachment allows adolescents, when they feel overwhelmed or distressed, to have the tools to express their feelings. Another preventative aspect involves helping children, from an early age, to recognize and internalize their own personal resources. Sometimes parents use phrases like "don't cry," "don't get angry, it's not that big of a deal," "there's nothing to be afraid of," which prevent children from freely experiencing their emotions. We must promote the idea that all emotions are valid and accompany us throughout life in different contexts and intensities. Furthermore, preventative action within the family involves the importance of allowing a degree of autonomy, avoiding overprotecting the child and constantly interfering in their activities or initiatives, but also avoiding forcing premature independence. But most importantly, a clear demonstration of affection and unconditional acceptance by parents is key, since this aspect is closely related to a secure attachment and consequently allows the adolescent to establish "healthy" emotional bonds and relationships.
2. Observe and detect the warning signs of anxiety: Sometimes young people can directly verbalize that they feel overwhelmed or worried, but other times it's not so obvious, perhaps even because they themselves aren't aware of it. Some warning signs include:
   - Mood swings, with increased irritability.
   - Avoidance of situations such as going to class, meeting up with friends, meeting new people, going to situations where there are many people, etc.
   - Difficulties concentrating, increased distraction, and a possible decline in academic performance.
   - Difficulty falling asleep at night and/or waking up during the night.
   - Complaints regarding headaches, fatigue, and other somatizations or physical discomforts.
3. Finding a quiet moment is key. Sometimes, you'll have to wait. The important thing is to be available to talk to your teenage son or daughter about any problems or difficulties they may be experiencing. You should adopt an attitude of active and empathetic listening. Remember that we need to try to see the world from their perspective, without judging or criticizing, which doesn't mean we have to agree. At this point, it's also important to help them gain perspective and put things into context, if possible.
4. In some teenagers, the problem may be that they feel overwhelmed by the demands and requirements (from the environment and their own), so it will be necessary to help them to distribute the time dedicated to each task (study) more equitably within the daily routine, with emphasis on rest, relaxation, pleasure and leisure time.
5. In conversations with teenagers, it's very important to validate their emotions and the situation they're going through. This way, they'll feel heard and supported. Validating their emotions doesn't mean agreeing with what they're telling you; it simply means conveying the message that you're there for them and that you understand their distress.
6. Teenagers who feel secure and self-confident when facing the challenges of adolescence (exams, meeting new people, etc.) are not overwhelmed by anxiety and feel capable and confident in their abilities, so avoidance behaviors are not usually present. However, a significant percentage of teenagers will experience considerable anxiety, so it is important to encourage them to confront their fears, allowing them to see that, in most cases, what they fear will not come to pass; and that even if what they fear or worry about does happen, they often have more personal resources than they think to manage the situation successfully, ultimately gaining self-confidence.

This is an original article from the School of Health at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona . For more information on anxiety in adolescence, please consult the   12th FAROS Report "A look at the mental health of adolescents - Keys to understanding and supporting them."