Enhancing Teen Girls Emotional Well-Being : A Parents Guide

Teenage years, especially for girls could be quite challenging. Emotional ups and downs, and mood changes, are quite natural and essential parts of their development during these years. Because of several changes that teenage bring to the girls, they experience several strong and changing emotions that could make them feel different and might also interfere severely with their overall mental well-being. We, as parents should help them out during this period, and be with them while managing their emotional ups and downs by talking to them, listening, and staying deeply connected with them.

This article will guide you in offering some of the best ways to enhance your teen girl’s emotional well-being.

The teenage years in anyone’s life are a time of transition from their childhood into adulthood. Usually, teenage girls feel overwhelmed by the physical and emotional changes that they might be experiencing.

A study published in the journal Child Development has examined mood changes in about 500 adolescents.⁽¹⁾ The researchers included teens from 13 years to 18 years. The teenagers used online dairies to report their daily anger, happiness, sadness, and anxiety levels over continuous five days. The study found that mood swings in teens are most variable in early adolescence. Additionally, teen girls showed more extreme variations in their sadness and happiness levels.

Mood changes, or emotional ups and downs are a part of life for teenage girls. Some days they might be happy and excited while some other days they would be feeling low, sad, and down. Moreover, they also expect more privacy and independence.

Though at times you won’t be able to pin down why your teenage girl feels down or up, you should help her cope with the changes that she might be going through physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Teenage girls go through several physical changes during this phase in their lives. Their body is changing during their teenage years and this might make them embarrassed and self-conscious at times. Sometimes, some teenage girls seem to be developing earlier or maybe later than their friends, and this might make them feel emotional.

Moreover, their eating and nutrition, and levels of physical activity can also impact their mood. One more physical factor that might affect your teen girl’s emotions is sleep. Teenagers need eight to ten hours of sleep, and if they do not get that amount of sleep, there would be emotional disturbances.

The adolescent brain changes a lot in the teenage years. For example, the changes in their brain cause your child’s body to make sex hormones. These hormones trigger several physical changes, and also sexual and romantic feelings. These feelings could be confusing for your teenage girl.

Moreover, the brain of a teenager will keep changing into their early 20s. The prefrontal cortex, which is the section of the brain responsible for regulating and managing emotions, is the last section of the brain to develop. Thus, your child could find it harder to manage their emotions, as they will still be learning to process and express their emotions maturely.

New emotions, being in new surroundings, with new friends, and new responsibilities can also affect the way your teenage girl is feeling. They are learning ways to solve their problems and trying to become more independent. They might also be going through challenges like challenges in friendships, school-to-college change, and so on. All these could be affecting their emotion and mood.

One of the major factors that impact most teenage girls is their body image. As their bodies begin to develop, they start focusing more on their physical appearance and sometimes they even feel insecure about how they look, and to add on, social media simply makes it worse.  

As per a survey conducted by Common Sense Media, 35% of teenage girls who remain active on social media, worry about others tagging them in unattractive pictures.⁽²⁾ Additionally, 27% of them report being stressed out about the way they look when they post their pictures, and 22% of teenage girls report feeling bad about themselves when they do not get comments or “likes” on the photos that they post. Apart from this, the use of Facebook has also been associated with a higher risk of eating disorders.⁽³⁾

In addition, social media carries a serious risk of cyberbullying and feeling left out. It can negatively impact the mental health of teenage girls.

We cannot stop our teenage girls from feeling low or down with their emotions. However, we, as parents can do a lot of things that can help them manage their tough times when they are struggling emotionally.

One of the most important things to consider while trying to help your teenage girl with their emotional well-being is to help them accept their ups and downs. They would understand that it’s okay to meet with ups and downs when they know that you too feel low sometimes and it is normal.

Your teen girl should know that you will be there for her when they are feeling down emotionally. Just let your girl know to accept that ups and downs are part of life and it is natural to have them at some point in our lives.

Staying connected with your teen girl and listening to her actively will help you know what is going on in her life and this can help you pick up on the triggers for their emotional ups and downs. You can share time while casually driving or watching TV together and know about your girl’s day-to-day emotional changes. This way they share a lot with you.

Now that your little girl is into her teenage and growing up fast, she is also developing independence. So, give her freedom, give her space and time alone to think, analyze, and experience her new emotions and feelings. However, also assure her that you are always available for her to talk when she wants to.

Try to learn and work together on various coping strategies that help you and your teen girl manage emotional ups and downs. One of the best ways to do this is by trying all the things that could be mood-busters for you and your child.

For example, listen to her favorite song together, spend time where she wants, hug her making her feel safe, go for a nature walk together, watch a movie together, and so on.

Having and maintaining compassion is essential for every parent, especially for parents of teenage girls. This not only helps the adolescents but also parents as well. A study has shown that we cope better with other people’s negative emotions by strengthening our compassion.⁽⁴⁾

Even when there are tough times or emotional issues that your teenage daughter must be going through, there must also be some positive movements as well. So, as parents, we should focus on the positives and on what is working.

Be known, that no matter how old they grow up, you will still be your child’s most important role model. Your teen girl would look to you to see how you cope with your tough times. So, thinking about this, make sure that you are trying all the best strategies to cope with your problems and help them realize that they too can solve their problems with various coping strategies.

Growing teenage girls could be one of the hardest times that parents might come across in their parenting life. However, parents should never hesitate to seek help when dealing with the tough times of their teenage girls. If you are a parent who is struggling with the emotional well-being of their teenage girl then seek professional help from parenting coaches and qualified psychologists. Ultimately, patience and empathy is the key to helping to enhance your teen girl’s emotional well-being.

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