Conversation About the Dramatic Rise in Teen Anxiety

Our conversation addresses two important questions:

• What’s behind the dramatic rise in teen anxiety?
• And most importantly, what can we do about it?

Too many young people in their teens and early twenties have an external locus of control. Believing that their lives are controlled by forces outside themselves, they lack the skills they need to develop a sense of agency. Dr. Dreher discussed her research on what well-meaning parents can avoid that can undermine their children’s sense of agency and what they can amplify to develop it. Dr. Dreher gave many practical ideas on how parents and teachers can give our children the skills they need—mindfulness, supportive community, and strategies for building stronger self-identities and with those in place, greater hope and self-awareness.

Diane’s interesting research shows that 90 minutes of “hope training” can support college students’ sense of personal agency. Download the study here. (Feldman, D. B. and Dreher, D. E. (2012). Can hope be changed in 90 minutes? Testing the efficacy of a single-session goal-pursuit intervention for college students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 745-759.)