Increasing distress suffered by the young? (7,5)
I believe the answer is:
growing pains
'by the young?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'increasing distress suffered' is the wordplay.
'increasing' becomes 'growing' (synonyms).
'distress' becomes 'pain' (I've seen this before).
'suffered' becomes 's' (this might be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'growing'+'pain'+'s'='GROWING-PAINS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for growing pains that I've seen before include "Early stage difficulties" , "teething problems" , "Problems that arise in the early stages of life" , "Adolescent muscular problem - temporary difficulty" , "developing problems" .)