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The teenage years are often a turbulent time for emotions, influenced by a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors. It’s normal for teens to experience mood swings, including heightened irritability, stress, or periods of sadness.
If emotions are too distressing for a teen to manage or are consistently impacting important areas of their life, such as relationships, school performance, and self-care, it could be a sign of an underlying mental health problem.
Read on to learn when teenage emotions go from normal to concerning and the factors that influence these emotional changes in adolescence.
Understanding Teenage Emotions
Distinguishing between typical teenage emotions and the signs of an emotional problem or mental health challenge can be difficult. However, it’s important to understand that difficulty regulating emotions is a common challenge for teens.
Regions of the brain, such as the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) that manages emotions, stress responses, and problem-solving, are still growing, and reasoning skills that adults have are often limited in teens [1].
Recognize Warning Signs: Normal or a Red Flag?
Certain behaviors, such as mood swings, recklessness, and challenging authority, can be normal in adolescence. Or they may be a red flag that your teen is struggling with an underlying mental health problem [2] [3].
Mood Swings
Mood swings are normal as teens enter puberty. Changing hormones and brain chemistry can make them more sensitive, irritable, or aggressive (aggression is more common in teenage boys as testosterone increases).
However, if mood swings damage relationships, threaten the teen or others, or become physically violent, this could be a sign of emotional distress. It’s important to reach out for mental health support.
Recklessness
Teens are known to be more reckless than adults as they foster their decision-making skills. Taking risks is a normal and even healthy part of teenage behavior. However, if these risks threaten their safety or that of others, it could be a red flag.
Normal teenage risk-taking may include signing up to try something new, giving a presentation, or asking someone out on a date. Consistent risky behaviors such as substance abuse, unprotected sex, dangerous driving, theft, or vandalism are often signs of a mental health problem.
Challenging Authority
Teenagers desire more independence than when they were kids as they develop their identities and seek more control over their lives. Challenging parents and wanting more responsibility and freedom is a normal part of adolescence. This can help them practice skills like decision-making and reasoning.
However, blatant disrespect towards authority and disregard for rules or the boundaries of others could indicate an underlying emotional problem.
Factors That Influence Teen Emotions
There are several biopsychosocial factors that on their own, or combined, influence teen emotional states and behaviors.
Hormones
As teens enter puberty, fluctuating hormones create many physical and emotional changes. Hormones help initiate growth spurts, brain maturity, and play a role in developing sexual identity. They also play a key role in regulating parts of the brain that control emotions.
Heightened levels of the hormone estrogen in teen girls and testosterone in teen boys can make them more sensitive to stress and emotional responses. And changes in the hormone melatonin can impact circadian rhythms and the sleep cycle [4].
Lack of Sleep
Current research shows that the sleep hormone melatonin works differently in teens than in adults. Melatonin levels rise later in the night and drop later in the morning in teens, which partly explains why they stay up late and may not always want to wake up early.
Most teens do not get the recommended amount of sleep each night, which can lead to mood swings, trouble focusing, and poor impulse control. The National Sleep Foundation recommends teens get 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night, while most teens only get 6.5 to 7 hours [4][5].
Brain Development
Although the brain reaches its full physical size by early adolescence, it is not fully mature until the mid to late twenties. One of the last regions of the brain to mature is the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC plays a significant role in skills such as organizing, planning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Changes to regions like the temporal lobe which controls social processes can cause teens to focus more on their relationships with peers and social experiences. This, paired with the underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, can lead them to take more risks if the social benefits outweigh the long-term consequences of a decision [4][6].
Identity Exploration
Adolescence is a time when teens explore new interests, hobbies, and friend groups to form their self-identity. Not having a strong sense of identity can lower self-esteem in teens and cause emotional challenges as they seek to understand who they are, what they value, and their place in the world.
As parents, it’s important to remember to be sensitive to this, validate their feelings, and give your teen the freedom to explore their hobbies and interests. Both positive and negative experiences during adolescence can significantly influence their identity and how they see the world as adults.
Family Dynamics
Family plays a large role in shaping a teen’s well-being. Fostering a supportive environment can support their emotional growth, while a dysfunctional home environment can lead to challenges such as depression, anxiety, or behavioral problems.
Some ways to create a positive environment for your teen include validating their feelings and having open conversations to build trust. Allow them to be independent while still setting limits and providing supervision. Also, model healthy behaviors and coping strategies to teach them how to positively deal with emotional challenges.
Transitions
Lastly, the teen years are filled with several transitions. Some of these are biological, such as physical changes caused by puberty. Others are social, such as transitioning to high school or changing friend groups.
Although change is often a positive thing and teens are quick to adapt, excessive transitions can increase stress and anxiety. Validate any feelings that arise in your teen during a transition and encourage them to build consistent routines.
Supporting Teen Mental Health in Texas
At Clearfork Academy, our team of licensed mental health professionals understands the complex nature of how emotional challenges can negatively impact teen mental health. We strive to provide parents with mental health education and offer evidence-based treatments to support teens in recovery.
Contact our admissions team today to see how we can support your family.
Sources
[1] The Teen Brain: 7 Things to Know. 2023. National Institute of Health.
[2] Low mood and depression in adolescence: clinical update. 2013. National Library of Medicine.
[3] The Current Landscape of Adolescent Risk Behavior. 2019. National Library of Medicine.
[4] The role of puberty in the developing adolescent brain. 2010. National Library of Medicine.
[5] Teen and Sleep. 2024. National Sleep Foundation.
[6] Basic emotion processing and the adolescent brain. 2016. PubMed.
Founder & CEO
Originally from the Saginaw, Eagle Mountain area, Austin Davis earned a Bachelor of Science in Pastoral Ministry from Lee University in Cleveland, TN and a Master of Arts in Counseling from The Church of God Theological Seminary. He then went on to become a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor in the State of Texas.
Austin’s professional history includes both local church ministry and clinical counseling. At a young age, he began serving youth at the local church in various capacities which led to clinical training and education. Austin gained a vast knowledge of mental health disorders while working in state and public mental health hospitals. This is where he was exposed to almost every type of diagnosis and carries this experience into the daily treatment.
Austin’s longtime passion is Clearfork Academy, a christ-centered residential facility focused on mental health and substance abuse. He finds joy and fulfillment working with “difficult” clients that challenge his heart and clinical skill set. It is his hope and desire that each resident that passes through Clearfork Academy will be one step closer to their created design.
Austin’s greatest pleasures in life are being a husband to his wife, and a father to his growing children. He serves at his local church by playing guitar, speaking and helping with tech arts. Austin also enjoys being physically active, reading, woodworking, and music.
