(Commentr 1 ). reference, citation, 150 words  Two external stressors that are unique to adolescents are moving/changing school and too of high of expectations from parents. Moving schools is exceptionally difficult for adolescents, as they have to leave the security of their well-known school, their routine, friends they have known since the beginning, and sometimes, the city they were raised in. I have some experience with this, as I transitioned from Private Education to Public in high school and it was pretty rough. I remember the most stressful part being my initial lack of friends and lack of support from my peers. Another external stressor that I knew all too well were high expectations from my parents. My parents expected me to achieve exceptional grades, participate in orchestra and sports, while maintaining a high school job, an experience that is likely more common than I felt at the time. Several studies have pointed to adolescent stress leading to impulsivity, stating that low-levels of stress allow adolescents to think, plan, absorb and remember but when stress is high, the brain interprets this as a life-threat and decisions are no longer thoughtful, but hasty (Duckworht, Kim, & Tsukayama, 2013). Impulsive, hasty decisions lead to risk-taking behaviors such as: alcohol and drug use, unsafe sex leading to teen pregnancy, or even suicide. When reflecting back on my transition to Public Education, it was really easy to make friends with my peers that were already smoking cigarettes, smoking pot, drinking, having sex, and several of them were cutters. I wasn’t always the best at resisting those activities but I was able to break into a “higher” level of social standing with athletics and those friends, who were mostly just drinkers at parties on the weekend. Another study on adolescent substance abuse demonstrates a link between adolescent substance use as a predictor of adult substance use, I would agree with their findings in reference to a large number of my graduating class that appear to suffer from alcoholism (Charles, Mathias, Acheson, & Dougherty, 2017). When it comes to support and coping for adolescents, I feel this is high variable. For instance, adolescents who don’t play sports might benefit from sports as a coping mechanism but for an adolescent who has too much on their plate, eliminating a sport or activity might be best to reduce stress. Tutoring services might be helpful to help an adolescent cope by helping them with their studies, keeping them on track and helping them retain information. Lastly, psychiatric services like seeing a psychiatrist or therapist might also be helpful for the adolescent but also helpful for parents placing too much pressure and too high of expectations on their kids. Lastly, providing secondary prevention services is valuable, these being information on crisis resources like call or text crisis lines to prevent suicide (Falkner, 2018). Charles, N.E., Mathias, C.W., Acheson, A., & D.

1. (Commentr 1 ). reference, citation, 150 words
Two external stressors that are unique to adolescents are
moving/changing school and too of high of expectations from
parents. Moving schools is exceptionally difficult for
adolescents, as they have to leave the security of their well-
known school, their routine, friends they have known since the
beginning, and sometimes, the city they were raised in. I have
some experience with this, as I transitioned from Private
Education to Public in high school and it was pretty rough. I
remember the most stressful part being my initial lack of friends
and lack of support from my peers. Another external stressor
that I knew all too well were high expectations from my
parents. My parents expected me to achieve exceptional grades,
participate in orchestra and sports, while maintaining a high
school job, an experience that is likely more common than I felt
at the time.
Several studies have pointed to adolescent stress leading to
impulsivity, stating that low-levels of stress allow adolescents
to think, plan, absorb and remember but when stress is high, the
brain interprets this as a life-threat and decisions are no longer
thoughtful, but hasty (Duckworht, Kim, & Tsukayama, 2013).
Impulsive, hasty decisions lead to risk-taking behaviors such as:
alcohol and drug use, unsafe sex leading to teen pregnancy, or
even suicide. When reflecting back on my transition to Public
Education, it was really easy to make friends with my peers that
were already smoking cigarettes, smoking pot, drinking, having
sex, and several of them were cutters. I wasn’t always the best
at resisting those activities but I was able to break into a
“higher” level of social standing with athletics and those
friends, who were mostly just drinkers at parties on the
weekend. Another study on adolescent substance abuse
demonstrates a link between adolescent substance use as a
predictor of adult substance use, I would agree with their

2. findings in reference to a large number of my graduating class
that appear to suffer from alcoholism (Charles, Mathias,
Acheson, & Dougherty, 2017).
When it comes to support and coping for adolescents, I feel this
is high variable. For instance, adolescents who don’t play sports
might benefit from sports as a coping mechanism but for an
adolescent who has too much on their plate, eliminating a sport
or activity might be best to reduce stress. Tutoring services
might be helpful to help an adolescent cope by helping them
with their studies, keeping them on track and helping them
retain information. Lastly, psychiatric services like seeing a
psychiatrist or therapist might also be helpful for the adolescent
but also helpful for parents placing too much pressure and too
high of expectations on their kids. Lastly, providing secondary
prevention services is valuable, these being information on
crisis resources like call or text crisis lines to prevent suicide
(Falkner, 2018).
Charles, N.E., Mathias, C.W., Acheson, A., & Dougherty, D.M.
(2017). Preadolescent sensation sensation seeking and early
adolescent stress related to at-risk adolescents’ substance use by
age 15. Addictive Behaviors, 69(6), 1/7. Retrieved from
https://www-sciencedirect-
com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0306460317300060?
via%3Dihub
Duckworth, A.L., Kim, B., & Tsulayama, E. (2013). Life stress
impairs self-control in early adolescence. Frontiers in
Psychology, 3, 1-12. Retrieved from
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00608/f
ull
Falkner, A. (2018). Health Assessment, Foundations for
Effective Practice. Grand Canyon University. Retrieved from
https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs434vn/health-assessment-

3. foundations-for-effective-practice/v1.1/#/chapter/3
(Comment2 ). 150 WORDS CITATION, REFERENCE, NO
PLAGIO
External Stressors unique to teens
Two external stressors that are unique to adolescents are coping
with parents getting divorced, and moving to different cities not
by choice. I have been in the situation where parents getting
divorced can raise all new obstacles for a teen. When parents
split up, the child may have to move into a new home, bounce
back and forth between parents with shared custodies, adjust to
a single-parent home where the parent may be constantly
working and even struggle financially. Teens who don’t know
how to cope with their parent’s divorce can take part in risk-
taking behavior and may act out, perform poorer in school, and
have behavior changes. I have worked with adolescents who
have begun cutting, burning, or other self-harm methods to draw
attention from both parents in attempts to see them together.
When teens must adjust to moving cities it can be incredibly
hard to leave behind lifelong friends, childhood home, schools,
teams, and relatives. Risk-taking behaviors for these teens
include engaging in potentially dangerous activities to get
acceptance by new peers like drinking, partying, sex, or even
drug use. Teens could try and run away and hitchhike to travel
back to their friends or families in their home city which can be
dangerous.
Risk taking behavior related to stressors
Teens who don’t know how to cope with their parent’s divorce
can take part in risk taking behavior and may act out, perform

4. poorer in school, and have behavior changes. I have worked
with adolescents who have begun cutting, burning, or other self-
harm methods to draw attention from both parents in attempts to
see them together. . Risk taking behaviors for teens who move
to different cities include engaging in potentially dangerous
activities to get acceptance by new peers like drinking,
partying, sex, or even drug use. Teens could try and run away
and hitchhike to travel back to their friends or families in their
home city which can be dangerous.
Coping Mechanisms and Support
Coping methods and support for children adapting to newly
divorced parents include learning relaxation and distraction
techniques, journaling, seeking peer support, maintaining
communication with both parents, creating a routine (Boring, J.
L.,2015). For adolescents adjusting to a new city and living
environment soping methods include the use journaling, family-
centered activities (bowling, game-nights, dinners, etc.),
enrollment in sports or extracurricular activities to help build
relationships, and keeping in touch with old friends through the
use of cell phones, social media, or video chats (Elsevier
October 2019).
References
Boring, J. L. (2015). Children of divorce–coping with divorce:
A randomized control trial of an online prevention program for
youth experiencing parental divorce. Retrieved from https://eds-
b-ebscohost-
com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=18&sid=15cf096a-
da95-4c5c-b526-
eb12753c87d8%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWx
pdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=2015-33904-
001&db=pdh

5. Elsevier. (October 2019). Purpose and Coping with Adversity.
Journal of Adolescence
. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-
com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0140197119301290