Adolescent anxiety is no longer a peripheral issue in schools, it’s at the heart of student wellbeing, academic performance, and long-term mental health. Yet while awareness has grown, the response from schools remains inconsistent, and often misaligned with what research shows actually works.
The scale of the problem
In Australia, the prevalence of anxiety among young people has increased sharply in recent years. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2020–2022), 32% of Australians aged 16–24 experience anxiety disorders.1
But the problem begins earlier. Data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) shows that anxiety symptoms begin to rise sharply between the ages of 10 and 15, with around 11% of 15-year-olds experiencing diagnosable anxiety disorders.2 Without early intervention, these issues often worsen in late adolescence and early adulthood.3
What many schools are doing, and why it's falling short
Many schools are attempting to meet this challenge with well-intentioned but limited responses:
One-off mental health awareness days
Increased referrals to school counsellors
Generalised wellbeing or mindfulness programs
Adjustments that inadvertently reinforce avoidant behaviours (e.g. excusing students from challenging tasks or social interactions).
While these efforts may provide short-term relief, they do not interrupt the patterns of anxiety that drive long-term avoidance, nor do they help build the internal coping strategies students need.
In fact, some commonly used accommodations can unintentionally entrench anxiety. As highlighted by researchers like Dr Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center, reducing exposure to feared situations – even with the aim of being supportive – can reinforce avoidance and increase anxiety over time.4
What actually works: evidence-based schoolwide strategies
Schools that are making a measurable difference to student anxiety are taking a broader view. Rather than relying solely on traditional one-to one, individualised therapy models, they are equipping all school staff, especially teachers, to be part of the mental health response by providing simple, modest strategies they can use too scaffold a student to face challenges. This aligns with international research that highlights the value of scalable, school-based interventions that target resilience and emotion regulation at the population level.5
Some of the strategies with the strongest evidence include:
Training teachers in structured responses to anxiety
When teachers are trained to recognise anxiety-driven behaviour and respond consistently using clear expectations, neutral tone, and step-by-step support, students are more likely to re-engage and feel emotionally safe to face challenges. 6
Interrupting avoidant patterns early
Equipping teaching staff and parents with skills to identify early signs of avoidance, and how to respond with calm, supportive direction (rather than removing the challenge), helps prevent escalation and disengagement. 7
Whole-school communication strategies
Schools that adopt a shared language and consistent approach to student anxiety report greater staff confidence and more consistent student outcomes. 8
Parent engagement that focuses on coaching, not accommodating
Empowering parents to remain emotionally available while maintaining limits has been shown to reduce child and adolescent anxiety. Interventions like SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) demonstrate this clearly. 9
The role of early intervention and collective effort
The research is clear: early, school-based intervention is critical. But the solution doesn’t lie in adding more surface level, generalised wellbeing programs. It lies in a whole school, consistent approach that aligns all school staff, parents, and school culture around consistent, proven practices, and giving everyday educators the tools to respond with confidence.
As schools across Australia grapple with the rising tide of adolescent anxiety, the most impactful shift may be the simplest: training the adults who spend the most time with teenagers to respond in ways that reduce anxiety, build resilience, and foster long-term independence.
Talk to us about how Resilience In Our Teens is producing highly promising results in reducing student anxiety, and increasing the confidence of teachers in their ability to recognise and address it.
References
1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2023). National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020–2022.
2. Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (2021).
3. McGorry, P., et al. (2022). The youth mental health crisis: A call for early and integrated intervention. The Lancet.
4. Lebowitz, E. R., et al. (2019). Treating childhood and adolescent anxiety: A parent-based approach. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
5. Weare, K., & Nind, M. (2011). Mental health promotion and problem prevention in schools: What does the evidence say?. Health Promotion International.
6. Hawton, M. (2018). The Anxiety Coach: A guide for parents and professionals working with children.
7. Chorpita, B. F., & Daleiden, E. L. (2009). Mapping evidence-based treatments for children and adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology.
8. Kidger, J., et al. (2016). Universal school-based mental health programmes in the UK: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. Psychological Medicine.
9. Lebowitz, E. R., et al. (2020). Supportive parenting for anxious childhood emotions (SPACE): A parent-based treatment.