The vitamins that could be the trick to stopping grumpy teenagers

A clinical trial showed especially large improvements for ‘severely disruptive’ teens LifestyleHealth & FamiliesThe vitamins that could be the trick to stopping grumpy teenagersA clinical trial showed especially large improvements for ‘severely disruptive’ teensJulia J Rucklidge The Conversation, Angela Sherwin, Joseph Boden & Roger MulderWednesday 04 March 2026 09:56 ESTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverVitamin D: Why do you need supplements?Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. 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We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreIrritability is one of the most common and distressing problems teenagers and their families face.Its main symptom is an excessive reaction to negative emotional stimuli, resulting in temper outbursts and severe irritable mood.While current treatment options such as psychotherapy and medications are helpful for some, they can be inaccessible or poorly tolerated.Our new research, based on a double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial, shows broad-spectrum micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) can significantly reduce severe irritability in teenagers. Teens with severely disruptive behaviour experienced especially large improvements.This offers a safe, scalable and biologically grounded alternative to conventional psychiatric treatments.Irritability is one of the most common and distressing problems teenagers and their families face (Getty/iStock)Urgent need for more effective treatmentsIrritability cuts across many psychiatric presentations, including anxiety, depression, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other disruptive behaviour disorders.The need for interventions that directly target irritability, have fewer side effects and are available to all communities is urgent.Statistics on mental health in young people are especially concerning. Youth mental health has been declining globally over the past two decades and has now reached a “dangerous phase”, according to a Lancet commission.Despite this, research consistently highlights a lack of effective and accessible treatments for severely irritable youth. This suggests a significant unmet public health need.Our research findings are based on the Balancing Emotions of Adolescents with Micronutrients (BEAM) trial, in which 132 unmedicated teenagers (aged 12 to 17) with moderate to severe irritability were randomly assigned to micronutrients (taken as four pills three times a day) or an active placebo for eight weeks. They were monitored monthly online by a clinical psychologist.The placebo response was high, suggesting that simply participating in the study helped many teens feel able to improve their behaviour. But micronutrients still outperformed the placebo across key clinical measures such as irritability, emotional reactivity and overall improvement.We saw the strongest effects in teenagers with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), with 64 per cent responding to micronutrients compared to 12.5 per cent on placebo. This demonstrates an unusually large effect for a psychiatric intervention.About the authorsJulia J Rucklidge is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Canterbury.Angela Sherwin is a PhD Candidate in Nutrition at the University of Canterbury. Joseph Boden is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Christchurch Health and Development Study at the University of Otago. Roger Mulder is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Otago.This article was first published by The Conversation and is republished under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.Parents of participants receiving micronutrients rated the teens’ conduct and prosocial behaviour much higher compared with those of teens on placebo.Micronutrient treatment was also associated with more rapid improvements in clinician‑rated irritability, parent‑reported dysphoria and teen‑reported quality of life, stress and prosocial behaviours.One of the most notable and reassuring findings was that suicidal ideation, which about a quarter of study participants reported at the start of the trial, improved over time for both groups, but with a greater change for teens on micronutrients. Self-ha