Stress management for pre-teens and teenagers

Stress management is important for pre-teen and teenage mental health and wellbeing. You can help your child learn to manage their stress.

Acknowledge your child’s stress

If you notice that your child is stressed, let them know that you’ve noticed and that you’re there to support them. Responding to your child with warmth and compassion can help your child be kinder to themselves. If your child treats themselves with self-compassion, it can help them deal more positively with failures, mistakes and setbacks.

Work out what’s causing the stress

If your child knows what’s causing the stress, it can be easier for them to deal with it. You can help by getting your child to write down all the things they’re doing. Then they can think about how they feel about these things. For example, do some of them make your child feel tense or stop them from sleeping? Remember that good things can be stressful too, and stress can also come from having too much to do.

Work out how to handle stressful things

You could start by helping your child learn to solve problems. For example, if your child is feeling stressed by homework, you might help them use problem-solving steps to find a solution like spreading out the work across the week.

Then you could help your child look at whether they can change any of the stressful things in their life. For example, if your child gets stressed because they’re always running late in the morning, they might be able to reduce the stress by getting ready the night before or waking up earlier. Next help your child look at any stressful things they can prepare for. Last, some stressful things can’t be changed, but they can be talked about.

Encourage a healthy lifestyle

Healthy lifestyle choices can often help your child handle stress or reduce its effects. Here are ideas for your child:

Be physically active.

Eat good food.

Relax and unwind, especially before bed.

Sleep well.

Avoid alcohol and other drugs, including caffeine.

Make time for fun and free time.