NPR catches up again with William Stixrud's recent book, The Self-Driven Child, and the recent The Good News about Bad Behavior, by Katherine Reynolds Lewis.

The article attributes the rise in teen anxiety to a lack of executive function skills developed primarily through free play with peers, which is at a serious decline these days.

"Two or three decades ago, children were roaming neighborhoods in mixed-age groups, playing pretty unsupervised," Lewis says. "They were able to resolve disputes. They planned their time. They managed their games. They had a lot of autonomy, which also feeds self-esteem and mental health."

This is a decent quick read on the benefits of play. NPR also spoke with Stixrud and Ned Johnson when The Self-Driven Child came out -- that closely related story is here.

Illustration: Angie Wang for NPR