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Judith W. Herrman
Adults often under-estimate the levels of stress in adolescents; however, stressors experienced by teens are
valid and have been described in both lay and professional literature. This article presents a thorough literature review as well as study results that explore teen perceptions about the stressors they face.
stressors they face, offering an adolescent perspective to the literature related to teen stress. According to Lau
(2002), teens can experience a spectrum of stresses ranging from ordinary
to severe (p. 238). Stress has been
associated with a variety of high-risk
behaviors, including smoking, suicide,
depression, drug abuse, behavioral
problems, and participating in highrisk sexual behaviors (Finkelstein,
Kubzansky, Capitman, & Goodman,
2007; Finkelstein, Kubansky, &
Goodman, 2006; Goodman, McEwan,
Dolan, Schafer-Kalkhoff, & Adler,
2005). In addition, long-term exposure to stress is associated with a variety of chronic psychological and
physical illnesses (Goodman et al.,
2005). High-risk teens, or those who
live in social disadvantage, may be at
increased risk for illness related to
chronic exposure to stress, discrimination, stigma, and a harsh social
environment (Goodman et al., 2005,
p. 485). Chandra and Batada (2006)
purported that assessing adolescent
stressors and the impact of stress is
the first step in the prevention and
treatment of its associated chronic
diseases (p. 2). Understanding teen
stressors may assist pediatric nurses
working with adolescents by helping
teens develop resilience to stress,
thereby increasing teens levels of
health (Tussaie, Puskar, & Sereika,
2007).
Figure 1.
Life Stressors of Teens
Miscellaneous
Graduation
College
Friends
Violence/fighting
Time (lack of)
STDs/AIDS
Becoming pregnant
Sex
Job
Being a mother
Parents
Relationships
Money
School/Grades
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
OccurRence
Results
In qualitative research, the results
are often best understood through the
words of the participants, in this case,
the teenagers themselves. The stressful aspects of the teens lives emerged
as themes from the data. Each of the
stressors was ranked from most common to least common using Microsoft
Excel. The frequency of the most
commonly noted stressors is found in
Figure 1. The most frequently noted
stressor was school, followed by
money, relationships, and parents.
The following is a discussion of these
stressors with exemplary quotes.
School. The greatest stressor discovered in this study was school and
377
pictures, class dues, SATs, prom tickets, tuxedo rental, and a prom dress
were all listed as adding to their stress.
With these expenses in mind, the
overall biggest complaint heard
repeatedly was how to get it. This
was especially true of young parents
who suddenly found themselves needing to pay for daycare and to purchase
diapers, wipes, formula, and other
miscellaneous items that were necessary for raising a baby. For example,
one young mother stated, Today I
just found out that my daycare bill is
$120.93, and Im like, how am I gonna
pay that? As is evidenced by the adolescents statements, money caused a
large amount of stress in their lives,
which is then compounded even further for some by parenting.
Relationships. Participants discussed the troubles they were having
both with their friends and significant
others. Many females seemed to have
problems with young men either
cheating on them or lying to them.
For instance one girl noted that they
say that youre the only one they
messing with and then theyre lying,
[you] find out they mess with somebody else. Another comment indicated that guys will tell you one thing,
then its another thing. Many of the
girls demonstrated signs of stress
when merely speaking about these
relationships and the young mens
behavior. Two young women mentioned trouble from guys trying to
pressure you and who just dont
know when to stop. Conversely,
young men stated that relationships
were stressful when asked about their
life stressors. More specifically, girlfriends get on my nerves said one
boy. The overall feeling among the
males regarding relationships was
best stated by one young man, who
said that girls were nothing but in the
way sometimes. Topping off the discussion on relationships was one male
who stated, Girls aint worth my trouble or my time.
Parents. Several participants referred to parents as sources of stress.
One teen discussed her father, stating,
He dont realize how much pressure
he puts on me. A second girl
expressed stress about her mom, stating, Im scared of my mom. Another
teen commented that her parents
make me sick sometimes. One participant explained that her parents
daily after-school request of her to
fold up the clothes, and clean the
bathroom, and make sure that everythings cleaned before they get home
at like 4:00 or 5:00, and if its not
doneoh my, youre in trouble posed
Discussion
The teens involved in the focus
groups ranked school as their number
one stressor in life. This held true for
all grade levels and both genders,
demonstrating that school, along with
its associated workload and worries,
caused stress for these teens. These
results coincided with the literature as
school being teens main stressor
(Chandra & Batada, 2006; Miller et
al., 2002; National Campaign to
Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 1999). In
addition, several of the other stressors,
including money, relationships, and
parents, were in concert with those
identified in the literature (Chandra &
Batada, 2006; Green et al. 2003; Lau
et al, 2002, Miller et al., 2002). Being
a mother also ranked highly as a
stressor, validating the stressors anticipated associated with being a young
mother (Herrman, 2008).
The participants often used the
term pressure to describe their
stress. This referred to pressure
from parents to complete chores or
get good grades, from teachers to
hand in assignments, from friends to
always be available on request, or
from significant others. Ethier et al.
(2006) noted that the word pressure
was used by teens when describing
the duress placed on teens to participate in sexual activity or to describe
the need to compare ones personal
behavior to peers. Pressure was a
word that was consistently cited in
other resources; this theme pervaded
the adolescents expressions of stress
both in this study and in the literature
(Chandra & Batada, 2006; Miller et
al., 2002).
Another noticeable trend among
the answers given by the teens were
references to the emotions inherent in
their daily lives. For example the teens
often spoke of being worried about
exams or grades, graduation, college,
getting pregnant, or simply the future.
Some voiced concerns of doubt, while
others talked about being upset or
mad. For instance, to sum up the
stressors experienced in the relationship with her parents, one girl stated,
Oh my gosh, that makes me so
mad! Comments the teens gave
Limitations
The sample of this study represents teens considered to be at risk for
both negative youth behaviors and
pregnancy, and all participants were
from a single state, limiting its generalizability. The timing of the study was
during the last month of the school
year in finals week with graduation on
the horizon, which may have contributed to the emphasis on school as
the highest priority stressor. Although
it is not known whether school was
truly paramount or if the time of
intense emphasis on studying influenced schools high ranking, much of
the research in the literature cited
school as a major source of stress in
adolescents lives (Chandra & Batada,
2006; Green et al., 2003, Lau, 2002;
Miller et al., 2002). The qualitative
nature of this study limits the ability to
generalize findings to a different population but does offer insights to the
unique perspectives of teens identified
as high risk.
Clinical Implications
Appreciating what teens reported
regarding the stress in their lives leads
to numerous measures that can be
taken to aid them in dealing with those
stressors. First and foremost, adults
need to be aware of the stresses that
confront teens. This study provided
important data related to the teens
own perception of the stress experience and the sources of stress they
encounter. Many adults feel that since
the teens have not yet entered adulthood, their lives are stress-free. The
realization that teens experience stress
and the origins of those stressors may
assist adults to empathize with teens
and enhance communication between
adults and teens. For many teens,
adults contribute to the high-stress
levels experienced. Disseminating
information about common stresses
and their causes to teens, youth advocates, and families with adolescents is
of prime importance. Because stressors are believed to lead to chronic illness and due to the potential for adolescents to live long lives, adults need
to be attentive to teen levels of stress
and means to assist adolescent coping (Goodman et al., 2005).
The key sources of stress offer
insight into the world of teens and the
means to intervene with teens about
the stress experience. It is important to
recognize the role of school in a teens
life, as several other sources also identify school as a major stressor in their
lives (Chandra & Batada, 2006; Green
et al., 2003, Lau, 2002; Miller et al.,
2002). Intervention is necessary to
address these stressors, and adults
should assist teens to cope with school
and its associated stressors.
It may be extremely beneficial for
teens to have access to stress management programs. Developing such
programs in their schools, recreation
centers, and/or churches, or with the
help of pediatric nurses in hospitals,
would be a valuable resource to aid
them in learning to manage their
stress. Constructing a stress management program based on teen perceptions of stress may lend validity to the
program content and enhance the
References
Chandra, A., & Batada, A. (2006). Exploring
stress and coping among urban AfricanAmerican adolescents: The shifting the
lens study. Preventing Chronic Disease:
Public Health Research, Practice, and
Policy, 3(2), 1-10.
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Adolescence: A Select
OBJECTIVES
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