We often dismiss any signs of stress among out teenage children because of the belief that adults are the only ones that go through situations and problems that result in the development of stress. However, this ideology has to be erased as teenagers go through the same experience although the reasons for teenage stress may differ from causes of adult stress. When you are an adult and you try to understand the stress that your child is going through, it always seems trivial unless you can relate to a similar childhood experience. Often this assumption will only escalate the levels of stress because there is no one available who can offer an understanding shoulder to lean on.

There are several causes of teenage stress including the overload of schoolwork. When it is that time of exams and there is pressure coming from the need to excel and to meet parent’s standards, a teenager can experience stress. Think of the long hours that he or she is putting into the studies, neglecting rest and some time off to relax. The stress levels will escalate when they do not pass these exams despite the effort put into them.

The separation or divorce of parents is one of the highest contributors of teenage stress. No one wants to see their parents who they have grown up with for all those years go their separate ways and begin to live different lives. Some teenagers tend to blame themselves when divorce takes place in the household. Divorce also causes adult stress, thus it tends to affect both parties involved.

Financial problems in the family not only causes of adult stress as many are made to believe. Teenage stress is also caused by financial problems in the family. It worsens because, in such a situation, they have nothing they can do to change that and their parents or guardians are busy dealing with their own stresses so there is no one paying attention to the teenager in the house. Financial problems affect teenagers because there are things and activities that they wish to undertake but they are limited by the limited finance and tend to compare with others at school that seem to have it all.

The death of a loved one, particularly, a parent, bother, sister and best friend is another cause of stress. This is also a two way as it affects both teenagers and adults. It has always been difficult dealing with death of some one you love despite how old you are. Questions can arise, such as why he or she had to go and sometimes one may blame self because they believe he or she would have been alive if they had done something or be there when it happened. If the loved one is very close, teenagers may get stress because they do not know how their life is going to turn out since this person is gone, particularly an individual who had a lot of influence on their lives.  

Other causes of teenage stress include, negative thoughts and feelings about themselves, moving or changing schools, being bullied, living in a dangerous neighborhood, changes in their body as they grow up and a chronic illness among many other things.