Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old
The prompt
“When a plan you were looking forward to falls through, what actually helps you shake it off?”
What to listen for
If they can name something concrete, music, a person, time alone, they've built real tools for handling disappointment, which means they trust themselves to get through hard feelings without needing to be rescued.
If they say "nothing helps, I just stay annoyed for a while," that's honest and okay, it tells you they need patience and space rather than fixing when things don't go their way.
A shrugged "I don't really get disappointed" might be true, or might be a wall, either way, don't push past it tonight.
What this tells you
What helps them recover from disappointment shows you how equipped they feel to handle life not going their way.