Adolescent Mental Health Expert Says Results Reveal Digital and Social Divide Between Teens and Their Parents

(New York, NY – April 29, 2015) — A new Silver Hill Hospital-Yahoo Parenting survey of more than 3,100 parents of teenagers finds that they have real worries about their adolescent’s mental well-being, but are far less concerned that their teen actually uses drugs or alcohol. The majority said they rarely or never try to monitor their teen’s cell phone or internet use, and fewer than half have the password to their teen’s phone – despite that fact that nearly two-thirds said their teen uses Snapchat or a similar messaging app.

Nearly half of parents surveyed said their teen has confided in them about feeling depressed, anxious or overwhelmed. Almost one in five reported their teen has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression or ADHD, and close to 10 percent said their teen is taking medications for these conditions. Perhaps most surprisingly, more than three-quarters of parents said they think their teen “never” uses drugs or alcohol.

“These findings are shocking,” said Aaron Krasner, MD, Adolescent Transitional Living Service Chief at Silver Hill Hospital, a nationally recognized, non-profit hospital for the treatment of psychiatric and addictive disorders. “The two most powerful results confirm the widening digital and social media divide between parents and their teens, followed closely by the wild discrepancy in parental understanding of teenage substance use and substance use disorders.”

Some key results of the survey are at odds with a 2013 survey of teens’ attitudes by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Comparing the Silver Hill-Yahoo Parenting results to the federal survey Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance reveals “great discord between parental perception and teens’ self-report,” according to Dr. Krasner. “The exploding world of teenage social media use, including novel methods for connecting with peers in an increasingly elusive and difficult to supervise world, is not fully understood by most parents,” said Dr. Krasner.

“Parents need more education about the devices, applications, and communications technologies that their teens are using. The generational gap is widening.”

“As a clinician working closely with teens with mental health and substance use disorders, I was alarmed to see certain divisions – again, with respect to the digital divide and substance use disorders.

At the same time, it was reassuring – to see that a majority of parents are mindful of teenage mental health. For example, 62% of parents were concerned (fully or sometimes) that their teen may have anxiety or depression.”

• Almost two out of three parents answered that they were concerned that their teen might be depressed or
  anxious — (21.8%) were “very concerned”; (42.9%) were “somewhat concerned.”
• More than 70% are either “somewhat” (49.1%) or “very” (21.9%) concerned that their teen is stressed out
  about his/her activities schedule.
• Nearly half (49%) said their teen had confided that they feel depressed, anxious or overwhelmed.
• More than a quarter (27.7%) reported that their teen is “very happy,” and another 59% said “somewhat happy.”
• 18% of parents said their teen has been given a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or ADHD
• 10.5% said their teen is currently seeing a mental health professional; a smaller number (8.6%) reported that
  their teen is currently taking medication for depression, anxiety or ADHD.

“The fact that 20% of parents reported their teen had been diagnosed with anxiety, depression or ADHD (with 9% of parents admitting that their teen was taking medications for these conditions) reveals that we are missing the mark in providing adequate mental health resources for our teens,” said Dr. Krasner. “All psychiatric disorders begin in childhood or adolescence, and early detection, treatment, and prevention of mental illness is an important public health measure. Barriers to care, from lack of providers to poor insurance reimbursement and or coverage for episodes of care, predominate in explaining this although stigma, lack of education, and fear are important contributing factors to the inadequate treatment of childhood and adolescent mental health disorders.”

• More than three-quarters of parents (75.8%) said they think their teen “never” uses drugs or alcohol.
• In the CDC report, 66.2% of students said they had had at least one drink of alcohol on at least 1 day during their life, and 40.7% of students had used marijuana one or more times during their life.
• Most parents said they would rather know that their teen regularly uses alcohol (60.9%) than marijuana (39.1%).
• Over all, parents ranked “anxiety or depression” as their primary concern about their teen’s well-being. They were least concerned about sexual behavior.

“This stands in opposition to what we know about teen substance use disorders,” says Dr. Krasner. “It reflects a dramatic underestimate of teenage substance use and again points toward the need for education for parents both with respect to communicating with their teens about drug and alcohol use as well as looking for telltale signs of drug and alcohol consumption.”

• More than half of parents said they “rarely” (32.2% ) or “never” (18.3%) try to spy on or monitor their teen’s phone/internet use.
• Dr. Krasner says these results reflect a major generation gap; many parents don’t really understand new technology and social media, and need to learn appropriate ways to monitor these activities. “All teenage use of media should be monitored,” he says. “Parents should have passwords for all accounts as long as they are paying the bills – so whatever kids are posting they are accountable to their parents.”
• Fewer than half (44%) of parents reported that they have the password to their teen’s phone.
• Nearly two-thirds (64.6%) said their teens uses Snapchat or a similar messaging app.

• More than three in ten (30.8%) parents said they have not had “the talk” with their teen about sex.
• Parents were relatively split on who is more sexually assertive or sophisticated, teenaged boys (32.1%) or teenaged girls (39.3%).
• An overwhelming number (70.7%) think today’s teens are too sexually promiscuous.
• More than four in ten (44.8%) said their teen’s sense of sexuality and sexual behavior has been distorted because they are growing up in a “digital age.”

• Nearly three-quarters (74.1%) of parents said their teen has a best friend, although nearly one in five (19.94%) said think that technology has
  prevented their teen from forming close friendships.
• More than half of parents (53.2%) said they don’t think their teen believes he/she is popular.
• Only 40.7% said they worry about their teen succumbing to peer pressure; 46.4% said they don’t worry.
• More than 40% (43.1%) say their teen has been bullied; 38.7% said their teen had not been bullied.

“I always encourage parents to stay in touch with their teens,” adds Dr. Krasner. “That’s easier said than done: Teens can be mercurial, hard to read, and sometimes hard to connect with because they feel anxious and self-conscious about the explosion of changes both inside and around them. But that’s what makes them so vulnerable. More than ever before, teens need help to navigate their increasingly complex social worlds. To parents I would say: Be with them; find them; connect with them.”

The Silver Hill Hospital-Yahoo Parenting survey was conducted via SurveyMonkey. More than 3,100 people who self-identified as the parents of teenagers participated. The full survey results can be found here: http://bit.ly/1HURLNq

About Silver Hill Hospital
Silver Hill, located in New Canaan, CT, is a nationally recognized, non-profit hospital for the treatment of psychiatric and addictive disorders. Since 1931, it has helped people find the path back to mental health and wellness. Its adolescent and adult patients have the advantage of a broad and comprehensive range of programs, including inpatient and extended on-site transitional living programs and an outpatient opioid addiction program. Visit silverhillhospital.org for more information.