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A national survey by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 11.4 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds were depressed in 2014. Ruby Walker was one of them. Her book, Advice I Ignored: Stories and Wisdom from a Formerly Depressed Teen is the only book on teenage mental health written by a teenager. It answers the question everyone's been asking her: What happened? [More]

A study from the University of Arizona examining the habits of teenage girls who take selfies found that taking and distributing selfies on social media isn’t associated with poor body confidence. But selfies can become a problem if teenage girls spend a lot of time debating what photo of themselves to share, or heavily editing photos before sharing. [More]

Adolescents who spend too much time sitting still and engaging in sedentary behaviour are at an increased risk of depressive symptoms. [More]

Worried that your teen is spending too much time alone in their room? Turns out, alone time is good for them, and you too, as long as you're not forced into it. According to a new study, when people seek solitude willingly, they're actually enhancing their creativity, identity development and emotional regulation skills. Worried that your teen is spending too much time alone in their room? Turns out, alone time is good for them, as long as they're not forced into it. According to a new study, when teens seek solitude, they're actually enhancing their creativity, identity development and emotional regulation skills. The study, titled, Motivation matters: Development and validation of the Motivation for Solitude Scale - Short Form (MSS-SF), was recently published in the Journal of Adolescence. Theravive spoke with one of the authors of the study, Margarita Azmitia, a professor of psychology at the University of California. [More]

The recent deaths of two Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and the father of a Sandy Hook victim have experts calling for better mental health support for those who survive mass shootings. [More]

A new European study recently published in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry is the first to show that chronic peer victimization, otherwise known as bullying, during adolescence, changes the brain structure of teens, making them more susceptible to developing anxiety. The findings are part of the IMAGEN project, a longitudinal study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine links between mental illness and adolescent brain development. [More]

If your child is struggling with Social Anxiety, it’s important to know that you are not alone. It is a very common disorder that can be treated effectively. Listening to your child, and providing support and encouragement will go a long way toward helping your child recover from this disorder. Social anxiety does not have to limit your child or keep them on the sidelines. [More]

Sex trafficking is one of the most complex, under-investigated, and misunderstood issues today (Estes & Wiener, 2001). Not to be confused with willful prostitution, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines sex trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act where such an act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age" (Kerry, 2013). [More]

While the signs and symptoms of depression are the same for adolescents and adults, depression in teens often presents very differently from adults (ibid.). It is imperative, therefore, for parents, teachers, and professionals involved with adolescents to know the different ways teens show their depression. [More]

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, better known as ADHD, is a disorder that many people in the United States have to deal with on a regular basis. Whether you're an adult that didn't get treated as a child, an adult that developed adult onset ADHD, or you have a child that has ADHD, there are a lot of things that you need to do in order to deal with the disease in a way that is effective and helps you or your child work through life in the way that they were intended to. [More]