It has long been understood that certain factors – family history, family dysfunction, chemical imbalance, early childhood trauma, bullying, sexual orientation, and others put teens at a greater risk for depression, but none of these factors explain the recent dramatic increase in depression.

If your child hurts your feelings, allow yourself a “cool down” period before you talk to them. This will help you to stay calm. Communicate with your teen and be an active listener. Validate your teen’s feelings, which helps to dissipate anger.

Here are 10 tips we want to share:

1. Don’t forget to breathe. Your kid will survive this year.
2. Spend ‘neutral’ time together.
3. Stay calm.
4. Don’t take the stink eye personally.
5. Get other adults in her life.
6. Urge her to pursue healthy activities.
7. Don’t let her isolate herself.
8. Take time to talk.

Here are pointers for helping children escape the cycle of anxiety.

1. The goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety, but to help a child manage it.
2. Don’t avoid things just because they make a child anxious.
3. Express positive—but realistic—expectations.
4. Respect her feelings, but don’t empower them.
5. Don’t ask leading questions.

Twelve-, 13- and 14-year-olds are quite capable of helping out with just about everything around the house. They can cook, help clean, do yard work, and wash the car. They can be totally responsible for doing their own laundry. Encourage babysitting younger siblings and doing pet chores.

Most teens experience great fluctuations in their self-esteem. They may feel good about themselves one day and feel extremely inadequate another. Although mood swings can still be common at age 14, they are usually less intense than in the past. Many 14-year-olds become more easy-going as they mature.

Forget the terrible twos and prepare for the hateful eights ‒ parents have named age 8 as the most difficult age to parent, according to new research. Eight being the troublesome year likely comes as a surprise to many parents, especially since parents polled found age 6 to be easier than they expected.

For a lot of American adults, age 12 is probably just one more moment in the extended blur that is adolescence, located smack dab in the middle of those forgettable middle school years.

Legally, the term child may refer to anyone below the age of majority or some other age limit. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as “a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”.

A 15-year-old is an adolescent — no longer a child, but not yet an adult either. There are lots of physical changes, but it’s also a time of big intellectual, social, and emotional development. While it can vary from girl to girl, there are common milestones to look for.