What do Adolescents say about their Stress and Stressors?

Childhood experiences deeply influence a young person and profoundly affect emotional and physical health later in life. It is also known that adverse childhood experiences are very common and early trauma and stress associated with this lead to predictable patterns of brain development, traits and behaviours. A study, aimed to determine the stress among adolescents and to identify their stressors was conducted among 46 adolescents who were selected through non-probability convenience sampling in a selected school of Udupi District, Karnataka. Data were obtained using demographic proforma, stress rating scale and stressor table. Data analysis showed that majority of them experience moderate stress (63.04%) whereas severe stress was reported by 23.9%. The mean stress score was highest in the interpersonal domain. Personal injury/illness, appearing for examination and failure in any subject were ranked (17.39%) as most stressful events. These results suggest that adolescents experience considerable stress. Early recognition of stress will play an important role to plan appropriate intervention and prevent mental and physical health problems among adolescents.