TeenBack is built for a modern reality: teen and digital addiction. To stay accurate, responsible, and grounded, TeenBack relies on established public health data, large-scale national surveys, and trusted global youth research. This page lists the primary sources we reference when describing the scale of teen risk across gambling, vaping, alcohol use, and digital screen overuse. We review and update this list as new releases and datasets become available.

PRIMARY PUBLIC HEALTH AND GOVERNMENT SOURCES (UNITED STATES):

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
• CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS/YRBSS 
• National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) 
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
• FDA National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) 
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 
• SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) 
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) 
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (SAMHSA and 988 Lifeline resources) 
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidance on youth privacy and digital practices 
• U.S. Department of Education resources related to student wellbeing and safety
   

U.S. DEMOGRAPHICS AND YOUTH POPULATION:

• U.S. Census Bureau 
• HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) 
• Child and adolescent population summaries from major U.S. public health and demographic data hubs
   

GLOBAL ADOLESCENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH SOURCES:

• World Health Organization (WHO) Adolescent Health 
• UNICEF Adolescent Data and Reports 
• UNESCO resources on youth, education, and wellbeing 
• OECD youth wellbeing and education indicators 
• National public health agencies in partner countries where TeenBack is deployed
   

TEEN TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND DIGITAL BEHAVIOR:

• Pew Research Center teen technology research 
• Common Sense Media research on youth media use 
• Academic research on adolescent digital behavior and screen-related risk
   

YOUTH GAMBLING RESEARCH AND PREVENTION:

• Peer-reviewed adolescent gambling prevalence studies 
• Systematic reviews of youth problem gambling 
• National Council on Problem Gambling (youth resources and prevention guidance) 
• State-level problem gambling councils and prevention programs 
• Public health research on mobile betting, microtransaction behaviors, and algorithm-driven exposure
   

VAPING AND NICOTINE RESEARCH:

• CDC tobacco prevention and youth nicotine resources 
• FDA youth tobacco surveillance 
• Peer-reviewed adolescent nicotine, vaping, and behavioral risk research
   

ALCOHOL USE RESEARCH:

• SAMHSA adolescent alcohol prevalence data 
• NIAAA youth alcohol research and summaries 
• WHO adolescent substance use context
• Peer-reviewed adolescent alcohol risk and prevention research
   

MENTAL HEALTH, PREVENTION, AND YOUTH SAFETY CONTEXT:

• Evidence-based youth prevention frameworks used by schools and community programs
• School-aligned wellbeing and prevention resources 
• Adolescent-focused behavioral risk and protective factor research 
• Crisis intervention and referral standards from recognized national and global health bodies
   

SEL AND SCHOOL-ALIGNED FRAMEWORK CONTEXT:

• CASEL framework and SEL competency resources 
• District and state-level SEL guidance where applicable
• Research on adolescent self-regulation, decision-making, and protective skill development
   

PRIVACY AND YOUTH DATA PROTECTION CONTEXT:

• COPPA-related guidance and youth privacy best practices 
• FERPA-aligned education privacy principles 
• GDPR youth and child-data standards where applicable 
• State-level youth privacy laws and emerging digital safety guidance
   

CREDIBLE REPORTING WE MONITOR FOR TREND AND POLICY CONTEXT:

• Bloomberg 
• CNN 
• U.S. News and World Report 
• The New York Times 
• The Wall Street Journal 
• The Washington Post 
• The Associated Press 
• Reuters 
• Major regional and local outlets covering school policy, teen wellbeing, and digital risk trends
   

ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH PUBLISHING CONTEXT:

• Peer-reviewed journals in adolescent health, public health, behavioral science, and digital risk 
• University-based youth wellbeing and addiction research centers 
• Conference proceedings and consensus summaries where relevant