It’s normal for teens to be moody, emotional and argumentative. However, if this behavior escalates into aggression, it could be a red flag of an underlying problem such as a mental health problem or severe distress.
Teens are in a sensitive stage of development, influenced by hormones and rapid changes happening in their inside and outside worlds. This can cause feelings of discomfort and behaviors we often associate with the “moody” teen.
An aggressive teen that displays violence that goes beyond normal teenage mood swings. They could have an underlying mental health problem that can affect their day-to-day functioning and healthy development for adulthood.
How Aggressive Behavior Manifests in Teens
It’s normal for teens to challenge authority or argue with their peers at times. However, an aggressive teen will display violence that could seriously harm themselves or others.
Violence in teens can damage relationships, lower school performance, and impact overall daily functioning. In some cases, they can even get in trouble with the legal system.
Violence in teens can manifest in a number of ways. These include:
- Fighting
- Punching walls or throwing objects
- Threats of physical harm to themselves or others
- Vandalism
- Shouting, cursing or being disrespectful to boundaries of others
- Bullying (physical or cyber bullying)
- Gossipping or spreading rumors
- Sarcasm or cutting verbal insults that go past the normal levels of “joking”
- Trouble with the legal system
- Self-harm (cutting, burning, punching themselves)
The sooner parents recognize and understand the signs of aggression in teens, the quicker they can intervene to provide support.
Types of Aggression in Teens
Parents may be quick to think aggression in teens looks like classic symptoms of physical violence, but it includes verbal aggression as well.
Physical aggression: This includes getting into frequent fights, breaking objects, bullying others, punching walls or doors, vandalism, and acts of self-harm.
Verbal aggression: This includes acts of aggression without physical contact, such as verbal threats, yelling, cursing, being over-argumentative, gossiping, spreading rumors, or cyberbullying.
Causes of Aggression in Teens
As a parent, you may wonder why your teen shows sudden signs of aggression. There are a number of social, emotional or biological factors that could cause teen aggression. Some of these include:
- Depression, anxiety, or mood disorders
- Trauma or unstable home environment
- Biological factors such as hormones or genetics
- Peer influence and school environment
- Behavior disorders or learning disabilities (ADHD, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder)
Understanding the reasons behind aggression in teens is important for knowing how to intervene. Rather than ruling out violent teens simply as “bad kids”, there may be underlying influences at play.
Mental Health and Aggression
Mental health problems often arise during adolescence. This stage of development is marked by rapid biological and psychological changes. If teens experienced trauma in their childhoods, this could be the years that the symptoms start to show.
It’s common for teens with aggressive behaviors to struggle with a mental health disorder. If your teen frequently shows signs of physical violence, vandalism or trouble with the law, they could have a severe mental health problem such as conduct disorder, or oppositional defiant disorder.
If you notice signs of an aggressive teenager, reach out for professional support such as a licensed mental health professional or your family doctor.
How to Cope With Aggression in Teens
Aggressive teens are often filled with feelings of stress and discomfort, and have trouble communicating their feelings. This can manifest as frustration, aggression and in some cases, violence.
Supporting your teen to learn healthy coping strategies can help them minimize these feelings and lead to healthier outlets of stress relief, rather than self-destructive behaviors.
Some healthy tools to deal with aggression for teens could include:
- Getting involved in a high-intensity sport or activity to relieve aggression (football, boxing, wrestling, hockey)
- Daily exercise to help manage stress (running, swimming, lifting weights)
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Creative activities or artistic expression (painting, drawing, dancing)
- Listening to calming music
- “Safe activities” for episodes of aggression (hitting a baseball, punching a pillow)
How to Help Your Violent Teenager
If your teen is showing high levels of violence reach out for professional help. This may include psychotherapy, medication management or school-based interventions.
There are also a number of strategies parents can use at home to help minimize aggression, or support their teens through intense episodes. Here are a few:
Encourage Them to Join An Activity
Encourage your teen to get involved in a team sport or activity that can reduce their stress levels or help burn off steam.
This could include sports, forms of exercise, art or music. Studies show drumming in particular is a great tool for teens with high levels of aggression to be involved in as it can release powerful emotions.
Positive Role Modeling
Teens often observe their surroundings very closely. If there are high levels of aggression in the home, it is more likely teens will display these behaviors.
Actively Listen and Validate
Try to be a solid support system for your teenager through actively listening and validating their emotions. Model yourself as a space safe for your teenager to vent and confide in.
Set Up Rules and Boundaries
It’s important to establish boundaries with your teen by setting rules, consequences and sticking to them. Although your teen may not live the idea, they look to parents for guidance.
Make rules with your teen during the moments they are calm, not during high-intensity moments when they are acting aggressive or violent. Establish clear rules, and write them down so your teen can be reminded of the consequences of their actions.
Manage Your Own Stress Levels
Parents of violent teens should be mindful of their own mental health and practice self-care when they can. If you are quick to lose your temper, or self-destruct during moments of high stress, it can model this to your teen to do the same and make parenting an aggressive teen more difficult.
Seeking Professional Help
If you identify signs of aggression in your teen, it’s important to reach out for professional mental health support to help find the best plan of treatment.
At Clearfork Academy our team of compassionate, licensed therapists understand the complex nature of aggression teens. Reach out to our Admissions team to learn more.
Sources
Ilomäki, E., Viilo, K., Hakko, H., Marttunen, M., Mäkikyrö, T., Räsänen, P., & STUDY-70 Workgroup (2006). Familial risks, conduct disorder and violence: A Finnish study of 278 adolescent boys and girls. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 15(1), 46–51.
Ho, P., Tsao, J. C., Bloch, L., & Zeltzer, L. K. (2011). The impact of group drumming on social-emotional behavior in low-income children. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2011, 250708.
Mike grew up on a dairy farm in Parker County, Texas. At the age of 59, he went back to college and graduated 41 years after his first graduation from Weatherford College. God placed on his heart at that time the passion to begin to help others as they walked from addictions, alcoholism, and abuse of substances. He is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and in the past few years he has worn many hats, from intake and assessment, group counseling, individual and family counseling, intensive outpatient and now he is working with clients, therapist, and families on discharge planning and aftercare. He also coordinates our Alumni Outreach Program.
