A new study revealed that that stress levels observed among teens during the school year are higher than the levels reported by adults.
Researchers from the American Psychological Association (APA) partnered with Harris Interactive Inc. to run an online survey. It was answered by 1, 950 adults, ages 18 and above and 1,018 teens age between 13 and 17.
Their analysis revealed that stress levels among teens during school year surpass the levels which are considered healthy, 5.8 to 3.9, using a 10 point scale; while adults' reported stress levels are 5.1 versus the 5.8 of the teens. The teens reported that they feel stress as early as a month before the school year begins. Thirty-one percent feels overwhelmed while 30 percent feels sad or depressed. Similarly, 36 percent of the teens complained of fatigue while 23 percent claimed that they skipped a meal when they feel stressed
"It is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults. It is even more concerning that they seem to underestimate the potential impact that stress has on their physical and mental health," says Norman B. Anderson, PhD, APA CEO and Executive Vice President in a press release. "In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support and health education at school and home, at the community level and in their interactions with health care professionals."
The survey also looked into the relationship between stress and other health practices such as exercise, eating, and sleep. Results showed that stress negatively affects these practices and that when the respondents are feeling stressed out, they were likely to eat healthy food, exercise, or have enough sleep.
"Parents and other adults can play a critical role in helping teens get a handle on stress by modeling healthy stress management behaviors," Anderson stated. "When spending time with teens, we can encourage them to exercise, eat well, get the sleep they need and seek support from health care professionals like psychologists to help them develop healthier coping mechanisms for stress sooner rather than later."
This study was published in the Feb. 12 issue of Stress in America.
