Stress for Your 19-Year-Old

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Now Is the Right Time!

Children, teens, and adults experience stress. Stress can be a positive force giving extra energy when needed. But, your 19-year-old teen’s response to stress can also have negative effects causing family arguments, preventing teens from taking important and necessary risks, and even, creating physical symptoms like headaches and stomach aches.

As a parent or someone in a parenting role, you play an essential role in your teen’s success. Helping your teen learn to manage stress is an important skill they will use throughout their life. Teens and emerging young adults age 19 are in the process of learning to manage their strong feelings, understanding the increased expectations of them at home, growing friendships and trying romantic partnerships, and attempting to meet academic performance standards. All these new experiences can cause stress. This stress is normal but can have a direct impact on their ability to choose healthy habits like eating well, sleeping enough, and getting exercise. Teens experience stress in various ways, 36% report feeling tired, 31% report feeling overwhelmed, and 30% feel sad or depressed.¹ Despite these symptoms of stress, teens are far less likely than adults to make the connection between physical and mental health and stress. How teens learn to deal with stress can advance or harm their development. Your support and guidance matter greatly.

In addition to the normal stresses that teens face, there is another level of intense stress that can impede a teen’s brain development and is particularly concerning called adverse childhood experiences. These experiences might come from family members who are dealing with substance use disorders, mental illness, or domestic violence. Exceptional childhood stress can be experienced by any child who experiences physical or emotional neglect or abuse.

You might consider whether or not you, yourself, endured an adverse experience as a child (many parents have). Your own experience can cause greater anxiety in your parenting as emotional memories are triggered through everyday normal developmental challenges your teens present to you. As you attempt to parent in new ways from your own upbringing, these challenges arise and require your attention. If you learn your own set of coping strategies, and if you plan and practice new strategies, you can manage even your toughest moments with self-compassion while teaching your teen vital skills.

There are resources listed at the end of this tool to address these more intense forms of stress — adverse childhood experiences. These can be debilitating and require help and support outside of the family.

The following steps will prepare you to help your teen through the kinds of stressors many commonly face. The steps include specific, practical strategies along with effective conversation starters to guide you in helping your teen manage stress in ways that build up their resilience and skills for self-management.

Why Stress?

Whether it’s your fifteen-year-old slamming their door shut at homework time because they cannot figure out a problem or your seventeen-year-old staying up late worrying about why their best friend isn’t talking to them, stress and how to deal with it can become a daily challenge if you don’t create plans and strategies for dealing with it.

Today, in the short term, teaching skills to manage stress can create

• a sense of confidence that you can help your teen regain calm and focus;
• greater opportunities for connection, cooperation, and enjoyment;
• trust in each other that you have the competence to manage your big feelings; and
• added daily peace of mind.

Tomorrow, in the long term, your teen

• builds skills in self-awareness;
• builds skills in self-control and managing emotions; and
• develops independence, life skills competence, and self-sufficiency.

Five Steps for Managing Stress

This five-step process helps you and your teen manage stress. It also builds important skills in your teen. The same process can be used to address other parenting issues as well (learn more about the process).

Step 1. Get Your Teen Thinking by Getting Their Input

You can get your teen thinking about ways to manage stress by asking open-ended questions. You’ll help prompt their thinking. You’ll also begin to better understand their thoughts, feelings, and challenges related to stress. In gaining input, your teen

• has the opportunity to become more aware of how they are thinking and feeling and understands when the cause of their upset is stress related; and
• can think through and problem solve through any challenges they may encounter ahead of time.

Actions

• Engage your teen in a conversation to understand their thoughts and feelings.
  • “What does it mean when you say you’re stressed?”
  • “What are some things that stress you out?”
  • “What are ways you manage your stress now?”
• Use your best listening skills. Remember, what makes a parent feel stressed can differ greatly from what stresses a teen. Listen closely to what is most concerning to your teen without projecting your own thoughts, concerns, and feelings.
• Practice actively listening to your teen’s thoughts, feelings, and worries. It’s easy to skip to problem solving when your teen is upset. The best way to find out whether or not your teen is stressed is by offering a safe space for them to talk without fearing judgment.
• Paraphrase what you heard your teen say. Paraphrasing is echoing back to the person a summary of what they’ve said to check how accurate your listening is and also to confirm to the speaker that you have heard them. A conversation might go something like this:
  • Teen: “My best friend invited me to a party tonight. I really want to go, but I know I have a test tomorrow.”
  • Parent modeling paraphrasing: “So, I hear you feel conflicted because you want to go out but also know that you need to study for your test.” If you hear a subtext of feeling, as in this example, you can also reflect back the feeling implied.
  • Parent: “I get the sense you are worried about hurting your friend’s feelings. Is that right?”
• Explore the mind-body connection. In calmer moments with your teen, ask, “How does your body feel when you are stressed? How does your body feel now? What’s the first tell-tale sign that you are getting stressed?” See how descriptively they can list their physical signs of wellbeing. Every person’s physical experience will be different. Find out how your teen feels and make the connection between those symptoms and the normal feelings they are having.
• Think about challenges and your response. Consider questions like:
  • “What happens during those times when my teen is particularly stressed?”
  • “How do my current actions or responses challenge each of us?” For example, “When my teen is stressed, they are rude and irritable with me. I immediately respond by being upset, and they storm away to their room and slam the door.” Instead ask, “I notice you’re not being your usual self. What’s going on?”

Step 2. Teach New Skills by Interactive Modeling

Because stress is such an integral experience in daily life, you may not consider how it can influence every aspect of your day. Learning about what developmental milestones your teen is working on can help you know when their age might be contributing to their stress.²,³

• Fifteen-year-olds are in the final year of major physical changes that occur in puberty. They may feel a bit insecure and sensitive to criticism. Their peer group can present all sorts of worries including who’s in the “in” and “out” crowds.
• Sixteen-year-olds have new important goals and worries outside of school related to learning to drive, getting a driver’s license, getting a part-time job, or trying out a romantic partnership.
• Seventeen-year-olds have more serious pursuits on their mind as they consider the fact that their graduation is coming up, and they’ll need to face life after high school. Invincible, overly confident, fragile, and scared are all common expressions.
• Eighteen and nineteen-year-olds are now considered emerging adults and may be entering college or facing living on their own for the first time. For this reason, they may be eager to discuss the complexities of adult responsibilities.

Teaching is different than just telling. Teaching builds basic skills, grows problem-solving abilities, and sets your teen up for success. Teaching also involves modeling and practicing the positive behaviors you want to see, promoting skills, and preventing problems.

Actions

• Model for yourself and your teens will notice and learn. Here are some ways that you can deal with your own stress.
  • Get exercise and fresh air. Getting active in any way – whether it’s joining a workout class or gardening – can help relieve stress.
  • Practice deep breathing daily. Use the smell of your morning coffee or tea to remind you to start your day taking some deep breaths from your core. Try and make a routine of taking 5-10 deep breaths to begin the morning calm and focused. If you run into stressful situations during the day, remember to breathe deeply in the midst of the chaos to help you better cope with it.
  • Create quiet time. Busy schedules with teens are inevitable. However, everyone needs quiet, unscheduled time to refuel. Say “no” to social commitments when it’s just too much. In addition to guarding your teen’s quiet time, be certain to carve out your own.
  • Set a goal for daily connection. Touch can deepen intimacy in any relationship creating safety and trust and a sense of wellbeing. It offers health benefits as well. A study found that those who hugged more were more resistant to colds and other stress-induced illnesses.⁴
  • Notice, name, and accept your feelings. You, as a leader of your household, can get in the habit of reassuring family members, “I’m fine,” even when you are not so fine. Yet, it is important to model emotional intelligence if your teen is to learn to manage their feelings. So, notice what you are honestly feeling and name it. “I’m tired and cranky this afternoon.” Accepting those feelings instead of fighting them can be a relief. And then if you want to change what you are feeling, you can take action toward change.
  • “Stay on your own mat.” This is an expression from Yoga. It means taking responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings and behaviors and not trying to control your teen’s feelings. Ask yourself, “What is my teen developmentally ready to try?” Allow for healthy risks. Realize it will not be done perfectly or at times, in the ways you expect, but you can trust your teen’s ability to solve their own problems with your loving support.
• Learn together! You’ve learned what your teen’s physical signs of stress tend to be, and hopefully, you’ve reflected on your own as well. Now, understanding how your brain – for both adults and teens – operates when feeling anxiety is critical in shaping your responses and offering support for your teen. Anytime you are emotionally shaken from fear, anxiety, anger, or hurt, you are functioning from the part of your brain that developed first — the primal brain. During these intense feelings, there is a chemical that washes over the rest of your brain that cuts off access so that your only functioning abilities are in your survival center. This “hijacking” of your brain, as Daniel Goleman author of Emotional Intelligence refers to it, serves a critical role.⁵ In true survival circumstances, you are able to focus on fighting, fleeing, or freezing. If you are being hunted by a tiger, your mind focuses immediately on running away. Your body surges with adrenaline (a hormone) that gives you an extra boost of energy. High anxiety can quite literally paralyze thinking. Effective problem solving requires logic, language, and creativity though none can be well-utilized when greatly upset. But in family life, fighting with words or actions or fleeing out of the door is often not constructive, safe, or practical. Creating a plan (as you will be guided below) and practicing it can prepare teens and adults to manage stress during a crisis, big or small.
• Fears typically relate to something in your life or future that is unknown. So, close that gap a bit by learning more about the issue at hand. Is your teen worried about getting sick? Do some research together on ways to prevent getting sick. This will help provide more facts and may alleviate some of their concerns. When you get more information and learn more about the issue, you, as a parent, can pinpoint exactly what’s causing the anxiety. Then when your teen learns more, that information can often lessen the worry or, at times, eliminate it altogether.
• Brainstorm coping strategies. There are numerous coping strategies you and your teen can use depending on what feels right. When you are really anxious and upset, it can be difficult to recall what will make you feel better. That’s why brainstorming a list, writing it down, and keeping it at the ready can come in handy when your teen really needs it. Here are some ideas from Janine Halloran, the author of Coping Skills for Kids: imagine your favorite place, take a walk, get a drink of water, take deep breaths, count to 50, draw, color, or build something.⁶
• Help your teen develop a positive association with stress. When they start to feel stress in their bodies, they could say, “This is my body’s way of getting me ready for the challenge.”
• Work on your family feelings vocabulary. Yes, at times, parents have to become a feelings detective. If your teen shuts down and refuses to tell you what’s going on, you have to dig for clues. Teens take longer to develop their feelings vocabulary. That’s because they hear feelings expressed in daily conversations much less frequently than thoughts or other expressions. In fact, it’s necessary to be able to identify feelings to become more self-aware and successfully manage them.
• Create a chill zone. During a time without pressures, design a “chill zone” or place where your teen decides they would like to go when upset to feel better. Maybe their chill zone is a beanbag chair in their room or the couch in the family room. Then, think through together what items you might place there to help with the calm down.
• Design a plan. When you’ve learned about what happens in your brain and body when stress or fear takes over, you know you need a plan at the ready so you don’t have to think in that moment.
• Teach your teen how to stop rumination. If you catch your teen uttering the same upsetting story more than once, then their mind has hopped onto the hamster wheel of rumination. In these times, it can be difficult to let go. Talk to your teen about the fact that reviewing the same concerns over and again will not help them resolve the issue, but talking about them might help, calming down might help, and learning more might help. Setting a positive goal for change will help. Practice what you can do when you feel you are thinking through the same upsetting thoughts.
  • When you notice the same upset running through their mind, teach your child to say “Stop!” out loud. Then, ask your child to try out one of their coping strategies to help them feel better and let go of those nagging thoughts.
  • Create a family gratitude ritual. People get plenty of negative messages each day through the news, performance reviews at school or work, and through challenges with family and friends. It’s easy and often feels more acceptable to complain than to appreciate. Balance out your daily ratio of negative to positive messages by looking for the good in your life and articulating it. Model it and involve your teen. This is the best antidote to a sense of entitlement or taking your good life for granted while wanting more and more stuff. Psychologists have done research on gratefulness and found that it increases people’s health, sense of wellbeing, and their ability to get more and better sleep at night.⁷

Step 3. Practice to Grow Skills and Develop Habits

Practice can take the form of cooperatively completing a task together or trying out a task with you as a coach and ready support. Practice is necessary in order for teens to internalize new skills. Practice makes vital new brain connections that strengthen each time your teen performs the new action.

Actions

• Use “I’d love to see…” statements. When a teen learns a new ability, they are eager to show it off! Give them that chance. Say, “I’d love to see how you are able to bring your wise self right now.” This can be used when you observe their stress mounting.
• Recognize effort by using “I notice…” statements like, “I notice how you took some deep breaths when you got frustrated. That’s excellent!”
• Include reflection on the day in your bedtime routine. You could ask, “What happened today that made you happy?” or “What were the best moments in your day?”⁷ You should answer the questions as well. Teens may not have the chance to reflect on what’s good and abundant in their lives throughout the day. Grateful thoughts are a central contributor to happiness and wellbeing.
• Proactively remind. Remind in a gentle, non-public way. “Remember what we are going to say when we keep playing worries over and again in our mind? What is it?”

Step 4. Support Your Teen’s Development and Success

At this point, you’ve taught your teen some new strategies for managing stress so that they understand how to take action. You’ve practiced together. Now, you can offer support when it’s needed by reteaching, monitoring, and coaching. Parents naturally offer support as they see their teen fumble with a situation in which they need help. This is no different.

Actions

• Ask key questions to support their skills. For example, “You have a test coming up today. Do you remember what you can do to help yourself if you feel stressed?”
• Learn about development. Each new age will present different challenges. Being informed about what developmental milestones your teen is working toward will offer you empathy and patience.
• Reflect on outcomes. “Seems like you couldn’t get to sleep last night because you had so much on your mind. What can we do tonight to change that?”
• Stay engaged. Working together on ideas for trying out new and different coping strategies can help offer additional support and motivation for your teen when tough issues arise.

Step 5. Recognize Effort and Quality to Foster Motivation

No matter how old your child is, your praise and encouragement are their sweetest reward.

If your teen is working to grow their skills – even in small ways – it will be worth your while to recognize it. Your recognition can go a long way to promoting positive behaviors and helping your teen manage their feelings. Your recognition also promotes safe, secure, and nurturing relationships — a foundation for strong communication and a healthy relationship with you as they grow.

You can recognize your teen’s efforts with praise, high fives, and hugs. Praise is most effective when you name the specific behavior of which you want to see more. For example, “You took some deep breaths and then started your homework. Love seeing that!”

Avoid bribes. A bribe is a promise for a behavior, while praise is special attention after the behavior. While bribes may work in the short term, praise grows lasting motivation for good behavior and effort. For example, instead of saying, “If you don’t argue with your brother, you can have additional screen time after dinner” (which is a bribe), try recognizing the behavior after. “You worked hard to communicate without getting frustrated. Love seeing that!”

Actions

• Recognize and call out when it is going well. It may seem obvious, but it’s easy not to notice when all is moving along smoothly. Notice! When your teen is using the self-management tools you’ve taught them, a short, specific call out is all that’s needed. “I noticed you when you got frustrated with your homework, you moved away and took some deep breaths. Yes! Excellent.”
• Recognize small steps along the way. Don’t wait for the big accomplishments in order to recognize. Remember that your recognition can work as a tool to promote more positive behaviors. Find small ways your teen is making an effort and let them know you see them.
• Build celebrations into your routine. For example, “I know that homework today is frustrating for you. How about as soon as you are done, let’s take a walk outside together?” Include high fives, fist bumps, and hugs as ways to appreciate one another.

Closing

Engaging in these five steps is an investment that builds your skills as an effective parent to use on many other issues and builds important skills that will last a lifetime for your teen. Throughout this tool, there are opportunities for teens to become more self-aware, to deepen their social awareness, to exercise their self-management skills, to work on their relationship skills, and to demonstrate and practice responsible decision-making.

Additional Resources for Sustained Family Crisis or Adverse/Traumatic Child Experiences

If there are high emotions in your household most days, most of the time, then it may be time to consider outside intervention. Physical patterns (like depression) can set in that require the help of a trained professional. Seeking psychological help is the same as going to your doctor for a physical ailment. It is very wise to seek outside help. The following are some resources to check out.

• American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
  • Has definitions, answers to frequently asked questions, resources, expert videos, and an online search tool to find a local psychiatrist. http://www.aacap.org
• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Healthy Children
  • Provides information for parents about emotional wellness, including helping children handle stress, psychiatric medications, grief and more. http://www.healthychildren.org
• American Psychological Association (APA)
  • Offers information on managing stress, communicating with kids, making stepfamilies work, controlling anger, finding a psychologist, and more. http://www.apa.org
• Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
  • Provides free online information so that children and adolescents benefit from the most up-to-date information about mental health treatment and can learn about important differences in mental health supports. Parents can search online for local psychologists and psychiatrists for free. http://www.abct.org

References

[1] American Psychological Association. (2014). Stress in America™: Are Teens Adopting Adults’ Stress Habits? Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/02/teen-stress.aspx on 9/22/18.

[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Teenagers (15-17 Years of Age). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.html on Sept. 4, 2018.

[3] Parent Further. (2018). Ages 15-18: Developmental Overview. Search Institute. Retrieved from https://www.parentfurther.com/content/ages-15-18-developmental-overview on Sept. 4, 2018.

[4] Cohen, S., Janicki-Deverts, D. Turner, R.B., Doyle, W.J. (2014). Does hugging provide stress-buffering social support? A study of susceptibility to upper respiratory infection and illness. Psychological Science, 26, 2, 135-147.

[5] Goleman, D. (1994). Emotional Intelligence; Why it can matter more than IQ. NY, NY: Bantham Books.

[6] Halloran, J. (2017). Raising Kids Who Can Cope with Tough Times. Confident Parents, Confident Kids. https://confidentparentsconfidentkids.org/2017/02/02/raising-kids-who-can-cope-with-tough-times

[7] Emmons, M. (2007). Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Recommended Citation: Center for Health and Safety Culture. (2020). Stress. Ages 15-19. Retrieved from https://parentingmontana.org.