How your teen’s hormones are adding to their results day stress
Here's how to help your teen regulate their emotions in the run up to exam results days.
August is a big month for 16-18-year-olds across the UK, with GCSE, A-level, and Scottish Higher results days falling within a few weeks of each other. It’s no doubt that students will be feeling worried and stressed about these days, but it's important to remember that their teenage hormones will be adding to these feelings.
Teenagers often seem to feel things more deeply than adults — first love, anger at their parents, social pressure — so it’s no surprise that they might experience anxiety more intensely, too. The hormones running through their veins only intensify these feelings.
“Puberty can make emotions feel more intense, causing a storm of hormones to build up at stressful times like exam results,” says Mike Kocsis, who runs Balance My Hormones.
Mike explains how hormones can amplify feelings of anxiety, and gives his advice on how to help teens stay calm and collected ahead of collecting their exam results.
Different hormones have different effects on teens
Cortisol
Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, “is released by the adrenal glands in response to signals from the brain’s hypothalamus and pituitary gland as the body’s stress response system,” Mike says.
This is a natural response, and nothing to worry about — we need cortisol to regulate our blood pressure, energy use, and sleep cycle, and to decrease inflammation, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
But chronically high levels of stress mean more cortisol production, which can lead to lots of health problems in the long term, like anxiety and depression, heart disease, memory problems, and digestive problems, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Adrenaline
Adrenaline is released when we are in ‘fight or flight’ mode — which teens may go into when they are anticipating results.
“As this hormone prepares the body to react fast, it can cause physical symptoms to occur from shallow breathing to heightened alertness and an increased heart rate as. Although this hormone can be useful in some situations, it can be overwhelming on stressful days,” Mike says.
Testosterone
Testosterone, while essential for changes associated with puberty, can also affect emotional responses in teenage boys, specifically around motivation, drive, and feelings of anger.
“When testosterone levels aren’t properly balanced, feelings of anger, frustration, irritability and even depression may appear, especially if they feel like they haven’t met their own or others’ expectations,” Mike says.
Oestrogen
Similar to the effect of testosterone for boys, oestrogen is necessary to trigger puberty and regulate menstrual cycles, and also plays an important role in emotional regulation in teenage girls.
But fluctuating levels of it can also lead to “mood swings, difficulty handling stress, and anxiety,” Mike says.
How to help teens cope during exam season
Mike shares tips on how to help your teenagers deal with any stress they are feeling in relation to results days, considering their hormones.
- Make sure they get enough sleep — teenagers need lots of sleep, since they are growing and developing so rapidly. Sleep helps to lower cortisol, whereas poor/not enough sleep can lead to higher anxiety levels, Mike says.
“Teens should aim for 8-10 hours of sleep and avoid all late-night screen time, especially leading up to big moments such as the first day back to school,” Mike says.
- Try mindful breathing — “One of the most efficient ways to calm adrenaline surges and cortisol spikes is practising mindful breathing,” Mike says. Try techniques like box breathing, where you inhale, hold, exhale, and hold again for four beats each.
- Make sure they’re eating healthily — we are what we eat, including our hormones, so nutrition is important for the production and balance of hormones. Eating a balanced diet, with plenty of leafy greens, nuts and seeds, oily fish, whole grains, and complex carbohydrates, is essential for growing teens.
- Chat through realistic expectations — “Parents and caregivers should assist teens in setting realistic goals and focus on the progress they’ve have made, rather than the sole outcome. You can start by motivating your teen to reframe their thinking: success isn’t just about grades - it’s about learning, resilience and growth,” Mike says.