Signs of Anxiety Parents of Gen Z Kids Should Know

In 2020, researchers estimated that 7.3 million children have anxiety or depression. That number has only climbed higher in the last five years, triggering a national state of emergency for child and youth mental health in 2021 that is still in effect today. Among the conditions that make up this mental health crisis, anxiety is one of the most common—and Generation Z is particularly prone to experiencing it.

What Does Gen Z Report About Their Experiences With Anxiety?

Gen Z is made up of young people between the ages of 13 and 28 as of 2025. Over a third of this generation is affected by anxiety disorders, almost half (47%) report feeling anxious “often” or “always,” and 44% report­ persistently feeling ner­vous, on edge, or anx­ious. Gen Z is also over 80% more likely to report experiencing anxiety and depression than older generations.

Certain communities within the broader Gen Z demographic are especially at risk for developing anxiety. 74% of LGBTQ+ young adults report feel­ing anx­ious. Hispanic and Asian girls have seen the greatest increase in rates of depression and anxiety. Statistically, girls in general have higher rates of anxiety, but experts point out that boys’ mental health experiences are likely under-reported due to the stigma among men against discussing mental health issues.

For Gen Z in particular, the impact of untreated anxiety might result in poor academic performance, weight changes, disrupted sleep patterns, and the consumption of unhealthy foods or recreational drugs, among other consequences, which might have long term consequences. 

Here is why Gen Z youths are particularly susceptible to anxiety—plus, the signs that it’s time for parents to intervene in their child’s mental health.

Why Gen Z in Particular Is Reporting Higher Levels of Anxiety

Adolescent brains undergo significant changes which help them develop a sense of autonomy, independence, and individuality. But this is also an especially vulnerable time for the human brain as 75% of men­tal ill­ness­es emerge between ages 10 and 24.

While every generation has had to go through this important phase of cognitive development, no previous generation has had to go through the unique combination of stress factors that Gen Z is experiencing even now.

“Recent survey data suggest that there is not just one thing causing the increase in anxiety in young people today,” says Shannon M. Bennett, the Associate Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical School and the Associate Director of the NewYork-Presbyterian Center for Youth Mental Health. “Anxiety is a [condition] with a genetic component that is also heavily influenced by our environment.”

Factors causing stress in Gen Z youth

Among the studied stress factors that contribute to Gen Z anxiety are gun violence, financial instability, and early childhood exposure to social media. 

Gun violence

In particular, 75% of Gen Z reported that mass shootings were a “significant source of stress” in their lives. Other news topics considered stressful by Gen Z were the rise in suicide rates, increased coverage of sexual harassment and assault, and the change in abortion laws.

Financial instability

Poverty and financial instability have also made their lives more challenging from the start. In 2011 and 2012, 23% of Gen Z lived in poverty and 46% lived in low-income households. These numbers have since decreased—only 16% live in poverty and 35% of Gen Z are considered low-income as of 2023—but these numbers are still notably higher than those of mil­len­ni­als, Gen Xers and baby boomers.

Social media

Social media is one of the most commonly cited contributing factors to the mental health decline in Gen Z. Research has found that the risk of developing mental health challenges, including anxiety, doubles in young people who spend more than three hours a day on social media. Most recently, it has been estimated that teens are spending almost 5 hours a day on social media.

“Constant access to technology and social media, can then amplify all of these [other] things that cause stress and anxiety because there are very few breaks from a constant stream of world news, social pressure, comparing oneself to others, and not enough down time for youth to truly relax and let their mind and body rest,” says Bennett.

Other common factors found to contribute to Gen Z’s experiences with anxiety include living through the pandemic as children and frequent exposure to stressful domestic and international news (via social media). This is on top of the stress factors more common to this age group in general, regardless of generation, like navigating complicated family dynamics and academic and extracurricular pressures.

There’s a silver lining. This generation is also more likely to report anxiety for what might be considered a positive reason: They feel more comfortable than previous generations talking about their mental health. “Younger generations are starting to feel more comfortable sharing their experiences of anxiety,” Bennett says. 

But she adds that there is still more work to do as a society. “There is still too much stigma and misinformation about anxiety and other mental health conditions.”

Signs Your Gen Z Kid Has Anxiety

Bennett says that it’s important for parents to understand that anxiety can present in a variety of ways and also differs from person to person. Typically this can include cognitive symptoms, like worrying about everything all the time, and a host of physical symptoms.

However the symptoms of their anxiety present, Bennett says that parents should be mindful not to “rescue” or remove all stressors in their child’s life. “That can actually be unhelpful because it does not allow young people to build the skills they need to cope with stress and anxiety,” she says. 

Instead, Bennett explains that the best way parents can address their teen’s anxiety is by finding a balance between support and teaching coping strategies—as well as seeking out outside professional help if their children’s situation calls for it.  

If parents suspect their child is struggling with their mental health, they should be on high alert for the following signs of anxiety. 

Avoidance

If your child is withdrawing from their social life or taking measures to avoid things that they previously enjoyed, this is the most likely sign they may be struggling with anxiety. 

“Anxiety is often linked to avoidance of things that we want or need to be doing, which then causes additional problems in youth development,” says Bennet. She points out that if avoidant behavior is paired with any of the following symptoms it can further help to identify anxiety.

Physical symptoms

While it’s important for parents to pay close attention to changes in mood or behavior, anxiety may also cause a young person’s body to change in unexpected ways. 

“[Anxiety] can be very physical and cause a great deal of distress and uncomfortable physical symptoms,” Bennett says. Physical symptoms can include headaches, stomachaches, and muscle tension. Bennett advises parents to pay particular attention if these symptoms happen repeatedly, with no other medical explanation.

Difficulty sleeping

Research has found a connection between sleep and mental health where mental health conditions can cause sleep issues and sleep issues can cause or exacerbate mental health conditions. Studies have also found that about half of all people with anxiety experience sleep disturbances. If  your teen is looking more tired than usual or frequently talks about feeling exhausted, start a conversation with them about the quality of their sleep. 

Parents might also revisit their family’s night time routine—which may have become more lax as the kids got older—so that it prioritizes restful sleep, remove screens at least a half hour before bed, if not more, and get advice from their doctor if issues with falling asleep or staying asleep persist. 

Constant seeking of reassurance 

When a stressful event activates a nervous system response in the brain (which could trigger, for instance, a fight or flight response), it can change the way the mind carries out all its responses to anything from friendships, their health, body image, or academic performance. Suddenly, any of these experiences could start to feel like a burden or a source of overwhelming worry. This state of mind, called anxious thinking, perceives any situation or experience  as dangerous. 

As a result, the anxious person can become trapped in a reassurance-seeking cycle, where they are constantly seeking safety from their parents or other trusted adults—even though it doesn’t actually make them feel any better. Bennett describes it as “seeking reassurance from trusted others repeatedly without feeling relief from the reassurance.”

Irritability

Irritability is a particularly common symptom of anxiety in children and, according to Bennet, can also present as increased anger, tantrums, or lashing out—changes in mood toward a more negative mindset than you’ve noticed before might signal that is unable cope with or regulate their response to increased stress or anxiety. 

These kinds of responses can also occur, or worsen, when a child’s brain becomes overwhelmed by the perception of danger and, in desperation to escape, behaves in ways that adults misinterpret as 

Aggressive. In children who haven’t properly learned to regulate their emotions, a child might simply be overwhelmed and yet not know how to properly articulate or express those feelings. 

Although any of these symptoms might call for the intervention of a mental health professional, in this case an expert would be able to teach emotional regulation techniques to a child in need of those skills.