CDC: Many teens say they don't receive emotional support, but parents say they do

Abstract

According to the federal National Health Interview Survey and National Health Interview Survey–Teen, there's a big gap between the emotional support parents think their adolescent children are getting, and the support the teens say they're getting. In 2021–2022, 58.5% of teenagers reported always or usually receiving the social and emotional support they needed. Differences were seen by several demographic characteristics including sex, race and Hispanic origin, sexual or gender minority status, highest parental education level, and family income level. Teenagers who always or usually received support were less likely to report poor or fair health, anxiety or depression symptoms, very low life satisfaction, and poor sleep quality. Parents consistently reported higher perceived levels of their teenager's social and emotional support compared with the teenager's self‐report.