Autism ranks among the top ten health problems for young people under 20.
Teenagers who land in an ER with a mental health crisis can be effectively helped by a community-based program.
New research shows that troubled teens placed in such a program were significantly less likely to return to the ER or require inpatient psychiatric care due to...
Rates of vaping, drug and alcohol use among American teens plummeted during the pandemic and have remained at relatively low levels ever since, new government statistics show.
“This trend in the reduction of substance use among teenagers is unprecedented,” sa...
High blood pressure is a rare health issue among teens, but U.S. case numbers are creeping upwards.
Now, research published recently in the Journal of the American Heart Association, show...
Hillary Fisher thinks receiving weight-loss surgery as a teenager put her on the path to a better life.
Fisher is one of 260 teens who participated in a long-term study which recently concluded that weight-loss surgery can bring lasting health benefits for obese teenager...
Half of young Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 spend at least four hours each day on their smartphones, computers or televisions, a new survey shows.
"As technology has become more integrated into teenagers’ lives, the time spent in front of screens has cont...
Weed use among U.S. teenagers fell dramatically over the past decade, a new study shows.
By 2021, only about 16% of teens said they were currently using marijuana, down from 23% in 2011, researchers found.
All grades experienced a notable decline in current weed us...
An overwhelming majority of teens and young adults are worried about how climate change will affect their future, a new survey has found.
About 85% of 16- to 25-year-olds are worried about the impact of climate change on people and the planet, according to the survey of ...
Teenagers are increasingly turning to protein-packed bars, shakes and powders to help them add muscle to their frames, a new study shows.
Two in five parents say their teen consumed protein supplements in the past year, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S....
Is vaping finally losing its coolness for American teens?
The latest tally of federal data finds that 550,000 school kids, mostly high schoolers, quit using e-cigarettes in 2024.
As with any new drug, parents and doctors may worry that the use of GLP-1 weight-loss meds by children and teens might raise psychiatric risks, including the risk for suicide and suicidal thoughts.
But a new study involving more than 54,000 U.S. adolescents found no such...
Friendships forged during a person’s turbulent teenage years lay the essential foundation for their happiness later in life, a new study suggests.
...Teens from minority groups seeking treatment at pediatric trauma centers are more likely than their white counterparts to be tested for drugs and alcohol.
That's the takeaway from a new study led by researchers at UCLA and Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
"Wh...
If a woman is already in a "prediabetic" state in her teen or college years, her odds for a serious complication of pregnancy later in life rises, new research shows.
Ignoring prediabetes in teenagers "may represent a missed opportunity to avert pregnancy-related complic...
New research uncovers a possible reason why teenaged girls struggled so mightily with their mental health during the pandemic: Scans showed their brains aged far faster than expected during that stressful time, even faster than the brains of their male peers.
In the stud...
Just 5.9% of American middle and high school students now vape, a big drop from the 7.7% who did so a year ago, new government data shows.
Put another way, about 1.6 million youth now say they used e-cigarettes at least once over the past month, compared to 2.1 million i...
A survey of Australian adolescents finds those who are experiencing depressive symptoms have double the risk of taking up vaping.
“In the short term, nicotine may reduce feelings of anxiety and stress, and young people may be reaching for vapes as a coping mechanis...
Kids considering suicide after receiving mental health care at a hospital can be helped by automated text messages that help them feel hopeful and supported, a new study finds.
Children receiving the texts as part of a program called Caring Contacts said they felt more p...
An interactive text-message support program can help teenagers quit vaping, a groundbreaking new clinical trial finds.
Teens who subscribed to the anonymous program, called This Is Quitting, were 35% more likely to repo...
There's a hint of good news for parents concerned about teen mental health: After 57% of U.S. teen girls surveyed in 2021 said they felt "persistent sadness," that number declined somewhat by 2023, to 53%, new government data shows.
In the latest biennial poll of over 20...
In findings that suggest more young Americans struggling with mental health issues are getting the help they need, a new poll shows that nearly a third of American adolescents and teens received some sort of mental health treatment in 2023.
That translates to over 8 mill...
Turning off smartphones is an important step in making sure tweens get the sleep they need, a new study says.
Leaving a phone ringer on is associated with a 25% ...
Misuse of illicit prescription drugs is falling dramatically among U.S. high school students, a new study says.
The percentage of seniors who say they’ve misused prescri...
Boredom is the key emotion behind most teens’ use of Instagram, a new study says.
Teens open the app because they’re bored, then sift through its contents looking for interesting bits to relieve their boredom, researchers report.
Then, bored by sloggi...
As millions of American teens continue to struggle with their mental health, a new survey reveals a sizable gap between how much support teens say they get and how much support their parents think they are getting.
A ban on Juul e-cigarettes has been reversed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.
Why? The agency said it needs to review both new court decisions and updated data from the vape maker. While the company's e-cigarettes are back under review, they hav...
Teenagers who are part of close-knit neighborhoods and families are less likely to have sex at a young age, a new study has found.
On the other hand, teens' schools have less influence on their sexual behavior, researchers report.
"Our results echo other studies' f...
Teens on the verge of falling asleep behind the wheel is a common threat to public safety on U.S. roadways, a new study reports.
About 1 in 6 teenage drivers say they've driven while drowsy, according to a National Sleep Foundation study presented Wednesday at the annual...
The number of American teens and young adults who've been prescribed one of the new GLP-1 weight-loss drugs soared nearly seven-fold between 2020 and 2023, a new report finds.
That's compared to an overall decline of about 3% in young Americans' use of other types of pre...
Doctors have long known that excessive marijuana use can trigger psychosis, especially in the young. But new research suggests the link is stronger that ever imagined before.
Teens who use cannabis face 11 times the odds for a psychotic episode compared to teens who abst...
Many teens are spending their days buzzed on caffeine, with their parents mostly unaware of the potential risks, a new national poll says.
A quarter of parents reported that caffeine is basically part of their teen's daily life, according to the University of Michigan He...
Vaping rates among U.S. kids in grades 9 through 12 fell to 5% in 2021, the latest year for which data is available.
That's down from a peak of 7.2% of teens who vaped in 2019, a new report finds.
Popular teens pay a price for being so well-liked by their peers, a new study shows.
The popular crowd are less likely to get the 8 to 10 hours of sleep recommended for teenagers each night, researchers found.
In fact, the more popular a teen is, the less time they...
Teens who vape frequently are exposing themselves to harmful metals like lead and uranium, a new study finds.
Lead levels in urine are 40% higher among intermittent vapers a...
"Dream it, be it"might sound like a cliche, but a new study says there's something to the notion.
Teenagers who set ambitious goals for themselves tend to be more successful as young adults, researchers reported recently in the
Standardized tests put a lot of pressure on teenagers who want to secure their future and make their parents and teachers proud.
This stress can lead to symptoms like stomach aches, sleep problems, irritability and heightened emotionality, experts say.
But there ar...
Teenagers suffering from anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder are likely to have a tougher time getting their driver's license, a new study finds.
Teens and young adult...
U.S. rates of suicide by all methods rose steadily for adolescents between 1999 and 2020, a new analysis shows.
During those two decades, over 47,000 Americans between the ages 10 and 19 lost their lives to suicide, the report found, and there have been sharp increases ...
Many teens"especially girls"are affected by body dysmorphic disorder, a condition in which they become obsessed with perceived flaws in their personal appearance, a new study shows.
BDD affects about two in every 100 teens (1.9%), according to a report published March 17...
High school students who use tobacco and cannabis products miss more school and have lower grades than classmates who use them individually or not at all.
That's the conclusion of a study by researchers at UC Davis Health.
"Substance use is a main predictor of educ...
They're cheap, easy to buy and now new research shows they have become the buzz of choice for American teens.
Delta-8-THC products, which include gummies and vapes, are legal in 22 states and Washington, D.C. There is no federal minimum age requirement for buying them, a...
The cost to American families of caring for a child with a mental health condition rose by almost a third between 2017 and 2021, a new report finds, to an average $4,361 per year.
Overall, American families spent an estimated $31 billion in 2021 on child mental hea...
Days clogged with numerous after-school activities are detrimental to the mental health of over-scheduled high school students, a new study finds.
Researchers also found that these "enrichment' activities -- tutoring, sports, school clubs and even homework -- are unlikel...
Vaping and skipped meals appear to be the main causes of frequent headaches among teens, a new study says.
Teens who ate breakfast and dinner with their family had a lower risk of frequent headaches than those who regularly missed meals, researchers report Feb. 28 in the...
Weather disasters driven by climate change are stressing out U.S. teenagers, a new study warns.
Teens with the most firsthand experience of events like hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, droughts and wildfires were more likely to show signs of mental distress than peers who ...
A study of mental health care in Maryland finds an increasing number of children and teens covered by Medicaid are taking multiple psychiatric meds.
This trend towards "polypharmacy" might be happening elsewhere, prior research suggests.
In the new study, Maryland ...
When bullies destroy a young victim's trust, mental health problems are likely to follow them into adulthood, a new study warns.
"There are few public health topics more important than youth mental health right now," said senior study author
The Pearl Jam song "Jeremy"tells the story of a boy driven mad by bullies who commits suicide in front of his classroom.
The song might reflect a real and ongoing threat to teens' mental health, new research suggests.
Teens being bullied face a greater risk of earl...
High school students who smoke, drink or use weed are more likely to be emotionally troubled and have suicidal thoughts, a new study finds.
Teens who turn to nicotine, alcohol or marijuana are more likely to think about suicide, feel depressed or anxious, have psychotic ...
If your preteen or teen skips school activities and social events, it may be more than the typically moody behavior of adolescence, new research warns.
Being socially withdrawn and having physical discomforts such as headaches, nausea or stomachaches as a preteen may boo...