Behavior: Declining Teens

They felt better in the 1960s

First the good news. Fully 85% of normal American teen-agers say they feel happy most of the time. Now the bad news. In fact, things have been going downhill since the early 1960s. Three Chicago-area researchers surveyed 1,331 adolescents, the majority in the Midwest, during the early 1960s and another group of 1,385 in the late 1970s and in 1980. Those in the first group were more confident and trusting, felt greater affection for their families and mastered "their inner feelings and impulses" better. The '70s teen-agers were less secure, had more problems and more worries...