Children respond to emotions differently than adults due to their ongoing brain development.
This developmental stage often results in children experiencing emotions with greater intensity and possessing a reduced capacity for emotional regulation.
Consequently, their reactions can vary based on their unique temperaments and life experiences.
Some children may outwardly express their emotions, while others may prefer to withdraw when they are feeling distressed.
Is your teenager violent, depressed, abusing alcohol or drugs, or facing other problems? Here’s how to ease the stress at home and help your teen transition into a happy, successful adult.
Why do teens act the way they do?
Children read emotions differently. Children differ from adults in their ability to read and understand emotions in the faces of others. Adults use the prefrontal cortex to read emotional cues, but teenagers rely on the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for emotional reactions. Research shows that teens often misread facial expressions; when shown pictures of adult faces expressing different emotions, teens most often interpret them as being angry.
When typical teen behaviour becomes troubled teen behavior.
As teenagers begin to assert their independence and find their own identity, many experience behavioural changes that can seem bizarre and unpredictable to parents.
Your sweet, obedient child who once couldn’t bear to be separated from you now won’t be seen within 20 yards of you and greets everything you say with a roll of the eyes or the slam of a door.
As difficult as this can be for parents to endure, they are the actions of a normal teenager.
A troubled teen, on the other hand, exhibits behavioural, emotional, or learning problems beyond typical teenage issues.
They may repeatedly practice at-risk behaviours, including drinking, drug use, sex, violence, skipping school, self-harming, shoplifting, or other criminal acts.
Or they may exhibit symptoms of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, or eating disorders.
While any negative behaviour repeated over and over can be a sign of underlying trouble, parents need to understand which behaviours are normal during adolescent development and which can point to more serious problems.
