Teen Health

Half of parents of middle- and high-school students report some concussion education. Watching a video or live presentation helps parents feel more confident about managing a concussion. Signing a waiver form, without additional concussion education, is rated by parents as not useful.

Most children get sports physicals from their usual health care provider. Walk-in or urgent care clinics and schools are also common locations. 89% of parents agree that sports physicals are not a substitute for regular check-ups. Parents rate measuring blood pressure, discussing medical history, and testing vision as very important to include in sports physicals.

44% of adults believe e-cigarettes will encourage kids to use tobacco products. Nearly half of parents are concerned their child will try e-cigarettes. 86% of adults support prohibiting sale of e-cigarettes to youth under age 18.

Only 1 in 100 parents believe their teens have used “study drugs,” while recent studies report 1 in 10 10th-graders and 1 in 8 12th-graders have used these drugs. 50% of all parents say they are “very concerned” about teens using “study drugs” in their communities.

About one-third of parents report they had received at least one pain medicine prescription for their children in the last five years. 35% of parents are very concerned about misuse of narcotic pain medicines by children and teens in their communities; only 19% are concerned about misuse in their families.

A majority of parents favor requiring regular hearing screenings for children from preschool through teenage years. For preschool-age children, two-thirds of parents prefer primary care offices for hearing screening. About half of parents prefer that hearing screening for older children take place in schools.

Most US adults support laws allowing teens to get medical care for sexually transmitted infections without parental consent. Less than half of US adults support laws allowing teens to receive HPV vaccine without their parents’ consent. For those opposing teen vaccination without parental consent, the parental decision-making role was most important.

Overall, 44% of adults in the U.S. believe that sexting is a very serious issue among teens. Most adults (81%) would support state laws requiring schools to educate kids and parents about youth sexting. Most adults do not favor legal consequences for sexting among minors.

Two-thirds of parents have not talked with their teens about hearing loss; most of these parents believe their teens are not at risk. Over half of parents would be likely to buy volume-limiting headphones or earbuds, but only about one-third of parents think their teens would be willing to use them.

Few parents believe their own teens are drinking alcohol (10%) or using marijuana (5%). Parents’ perceptions fall below teens’ own reported use (52% for alcohol; 28% for marijuana). Many parents of teens overestimate marijuana and alcohol use by teens nationally.