A Summary of Why Anxiety Is Rising in Adolescents

Over the last decade or two, the relevance of anxiety and other mental health conditions has risen significantly in adolescents. For anxiety in particular, a multitude of factors have contributed to the increase in its significance. Things such as pressures in schools and society, media and technological influences, and family, peer, and social challenges all trace back to the root of anxiety. In all, the sudden increase in anxiety cases comes from many different components, and it is crucial to understand why they affect adolescents in such a drastic way.

As adolescents grow older, the demand for perfection within school systems intensifies. Classes become harder, and with the thought of college in the back of many minds, performing well in school turns into a necessity. In recent years, adolescents who aspire to attend college, in particular, have developed a similar mentality worldwide: the college I go to determines my success and future. This mentality of adolescents formed from the  “[...] consistently growing perception that admission to elite schools is essential for future success” (Benjamin). For students who believe this, their entire high school career is focused on being admitted to a top-ranked college. This mentality then puts a lot of pressure on students for excellence all the time and ends up becoming an extreme factor for anxiety. 

Although the college adolescents end up attending is not always the determining factor for their future employment. According to an article published by the University of South Florida, “getting a college degree positively affects your career, but where you go to school is much less important than earning that diploma” (Young). In reality, the education and skills a person obtains are much more significant for employers. Individualism is what makes the world stronger, and that is why someone’s unique capabilities, not the college they attended, truly assist them in differentiating themselves.

Another reason is the prominent state of media and technology in the lives of adolescents. Globally, the number of online users has increased to over 5.07 billion people, which is slightly over half of the population (Chaffey). Specifically, statistics have also shown that adolescents are online more frequently and in different ways than they were previously. A survey conducted by the PEW Research Center in 2024 showed that around 96% of the  surveyed US teenagers were online every day, and nearly half of the teens said they were online constantly—this is up from 24% a decade ago. This expansion of usage in adolescents has come with positives and negatives; however, the negative attributes are much more severe than the positive ones. 

To begin, online comparison has become a real issue for adolescents. Social media forges reality in whatever way the creator wants, even if it is not true. These false impressions then create disproportionate images of what reality actually is, which can lead to a decrease in self-esteem, resulting in anxiety most of the time. Furthermore, some broad media and technology dilemmas relating to adolescent anxiety are “Seeing people posting about events to which you haven’t been invited/ Feeling pressure to post positive and attractive content about yourself/ Feeling pressure to get comments and likes on your posts/ Having someone post things about you that you cannot change or control” (Shafer). In the end, media and technology continue to grow at an exceptional rate, and with that, adolescents are getting more exposed and integrated into the digital world. It comes with many pluses and minuses, but most of the minuses connect back to anxiety in unfortunate ways. 

The last main reason why adolescent anxiety has risen is related to family, peer, and social challenges, which intertwine with the first two points. As adolescents grow older, they often become exposed to hard things in society. Things like discrimination and inequity start appearing in adolescents' lives, and it can be very difficult to handle emotionally. Additionally, when these things become more prevalent, humans use a fight-or-flight response to compensate. This reaction begins to divide individuals by creating a less accepting and communicative society. 

Recently, research has shown that adolescents have felt this divide every day, with support from their families and peers evaporating as they age. According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), “only 68 per cent of adolescents reported feeling supported by their families, down from 73 per cent in 2018…similarly, peer support dropped by three per cent.” (Adolescents Face). These statistics again correlate the societal separation adolescents feel when they age to anxiety, and while girls and older adolescents felt the divide more, the overall shift in family, peer, and societal support over the last few years is devastating. 

In conclusion, anxiety in adolescents has risen drastically over the course of the last decade. Many factors contribute to this increase in unstable mental health, but three main ones severely add to the equation: pressure in schools and society, media and technological influences, and family, peer, and social challenges. As more research is published and more studies are conducted, professionals gain a better idea of what could solve this dilemma. It may be a while until there is a significant solution to anxiety in adolescents, and truthfully, there may never be a definitive one. However, each time a person pursues a solution, it is one step closer to hopefully eliminating it entirely.